


Children of the Gods

by candiedviolets



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: AU modified from the Ultimate Talent Development Plan setting (check the notes for more details), Canon-Typical Violence, Conspiracy, Dramatic Irony, Fluff, Hormonal Teenagers, Multi, Mystery, Nudity, Shuichi cries a lot, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, The headmaster may add additional tags to this list at any time., bad anime tropes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-01-31 10:57:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 53,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12680493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/candiedviolets/pseuds/candiedviolets
Summary: September 29th, 2011Kokichi and I have discovered that something horrible has happened on campus. I don't know if I should even be writing this down.My hands are trembling as I write this.Could there really be a connection between this and the strange occurrences Kokichi's been seeing? Even Kyoko seems on edge... but I can’t just leave this as it is. I need to do something.What on earth is going on at Hope’s Peak...?---Latest Chapter: #11 Into the Secret Garden-One week ago...





	1. The Hot Springs Episode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place in a modified version of the setting used in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan minigame in V3. Among other unusual quirks, this means that all the students from the three main series games attend Hope's Peak Academy at the same grade level. However, unlike the Talent Development minigame, Monokuma, Usami, Monomi, and Izuru Kamakura will not be out and about, while Ryota Mitarai is an active participant in the 78 B class. If you wanted to see any of these omitted characters in this story, I apologize sincerely.
> 
> Other changes within this setting will be made known as the story develops. Please look forward to it.

"Hey, wanna see something fucked up?"

Shuichi bolted awake.

"AAHHHRG..!"

The detective scanned the dorm room in a panic, searching for the source of the mystery voice.  
The room was pitch black making it hard to see anything at all. However, it didn't take long to notice the shadowy figure sitting uncomfortably close to him on the bed.

"-UWHWEHHHH!!"

Practically jumping out of his own skin, he scrambled back as far as he could, crumpling himself against the bed's headboard.

"Nishishi~ Good morning, sleeping beauty~!"

If that laugh and mocking inflection didn't give it away, that unmistakable toothy grin quickly identified the culprit. Flicking the light on from the bedside lamp, he was able to confirm the obvious…

"Kokichi, what the hell?! It's the middle of the night, what gives?!" Shuichi objected- but that wasn't the most pressing matter... "How did you even get in my room anyways?!"

Kokichi sat there on the bedding with him, legs crisscrossed all casual as if the bed were his.  
He leaned forward, slowly pressing his finger against Shuichi's lips.

"Shhhhh... Let's not worry about that teensy little detail right now. You better keep it down if you don't wanna wake up that wet blanket next door."

When Shuichi Saihara first arrived at Hope's Peak Academy, he had imagined it to be the golden years of his youth. He had spent his middle school years cloistered away from other students due to his uncle, but Hope's Peak was going to change all that. He was going to spend his hope-filled campus life fraternizing with like-minded peers, lifting each other up to be at their bests.

Instead he met Kokichi Oma.

Like a black cloud appearing on the horizon of a beautiful day, or drops of rain beginning to fall as you carry your groceries home in a paper bag. Kokichi was that pit in his stomach that appeared whenever something horrible was about to happen. Ever since they met during the opening ceremony, the so-called Supreme Leader had been a black stain, dragging him along on all his delinquent adventures against his will. Why Kokichi kept picking on Shuichi when he supposedly had "thousands" of followers would forever elude him.

"Look Kokichi, not tonight... I promised I would study some case files with Kyoko tomorrow and I need to slee-"

"Oh come on, you don't even want to hear my proposal? I've got something reeaaaaaally good for you today." Kokichi said, swaying back and forth. "Plus, I guarantee you that glacier of a bitch isn't sleeping right now either."

"Hey!Don't call her th-" Shuichi was silenced once again by Kokichi's finger slamming against his lips.

"SHHHHHHHH-! He's GONNA hear you! Do. Not. Ruin. This. You'll TOTALLY regret it if you do~"

It was pointless to resist. Kokichi was going to get his way no matter what he did and he knew it.  
Shuichi rubbed his eyes and put on his biggest protest face. He wasn't even remotely ready for whatever that imp was preparing. He was even wearing that stupid white straight-jacket thing that his club wore. There was no way this wasn't some sort of trap, but did he have a choice?

"Sigh... Fine. What is it?" Shuichi resigned. He just hoped that whatever was going to happen wouldn't hurt TOO much.

As if he were waiting for that cue, Oma suddenly jumped to his feet, planting them on both sides of Shuichi's hips. He leaned in hard with that shit-eating grin, practically touching noses.

"A MAN'S FANTASY OF COURSE!" Kokichi practically screamed in his face.

Shuichi shoved the tiny figure over, continuing to laugh like a banshee as he fell into his lap. "Hey Kokichi, what are you doing? Shhh-! Be quiet, you're gonna wake Taka!"

"Look Shuichi, I got some intel that all the girls are having a little night out at the school's open-air bath..." Kokichi said in a hushed tone, completely ignoring Shuichi's protest and grinding into him in an exaggerated motion. "I know you're tooootally more into situations like this instead... But you should probably play along and come with if you don't want this little secret of yours to spread, if you know what I mean."

The comment earned Kokichi a punch to the side of his face, forcing him to fall his ass on the floor. Scrambling to his feet, Shuichi was just about ready to kick the little shit out of his room.  
No matter what, he was NOT going to participate in this stupid immature plo-

"Owwwwww! I'm just trying to do you a favor... Don't you WANT to see Kaede's big ol' tits?"

"-E-excuse me..?" Shuichi's face became a shade approximate of a perfectly ripe cherry.  
Without realizing it, the thought of Kaede in the nude invaded his mind... How creamy and soft her skin must be... following the curves of her hips up to those round perky… 

"AHGH! Kokichi, you must be seriously out of your mind if you think I would even CONSIDER going with you on this stupid, childish scheme!"

As if things couldn't get any more ridiculous, Kaito burst into the room as if he were in on the whole thing.

"What? Seriously, man? Come on you gotta do it!" Kaito said, pumping his fist in a stereotypical display of machismo. "This is the PERFECT opportunity for us guys to bond together!"

Shuichi looked towards Kokichi for some sort of sign of _why_ he would have been working with Kaito of all people, but he himself looked confused.

"Hey, it wasn't me. I have NO idea why he's here.", he shrugged.

"Huh? No way I was plotting with that guy! After I got back to my room from training, I remembered I left something with you so I came over right away. That's when I saw Kokichi break into your room and I got worried that he was up to no good. But then I heard that he wanted to take you on this adventure and I gotta tell you, you gotta do it!"

Kokichi's insincere smile overtook his face. It wasn't a secret that the two weren't fond of each other, openly getting in arguments and fights in homeroom. "Haha yeah... An entire night with Kaito? Sounds... Greeeaaaaat."

"Then it's settled! Maybe now we can bury the hatchet between us, eh Kokichi?" Kaito swung his arms around the two boys, causing the two to tense up. Kokichi looked liked he was ready to die. "Let's do it!"

_KNOCK KNOCK_

"Excuse me! What is going on in there? It is exactly 00:24 in the morning, you should be sleeping! What exactly are you doing in there Shuichi Saihara?"

"Aw shit!", Kokichi exclaimed before jumping up to grab Kaito by the collar and dragging him into the closet to hide.

Once again, Shuichi was left to clean up the whole mess.

Sighing deeply, he walked to the door to meet his poor neighbor who just wanted some sleep- Something Shuichi could deeply sympathize with. After coming up with some lame excuse about watching tv and promising to not make so much noise next time, so on and so forth, Taka finally left.

"Okay he's gone. If we're gonna do this... Thing... then we better get it over with." Shuichi wished in his heart that Taka could have saved him, but he knew all along that Kokichi was going to get his way no matter what. This situation was no different. "I'm fully awake now so it's not like I can go back to bed anyways."

"Okie dokie, let's get this thing-a rollin'!" Kokichi shouted while popping out of the closet followed by a confused Kaito. 

Shuichi cringed. Taka almost certainly heard that. Before he could tell him to keep quiet, Kokichi's voice went completely deadpan.

"Oh, and we should probably meet up with Kiibo. He's been waiting by the bath for a couple hours now."

"WHAT?!" Kaito snapped.

Shuichi knew by now that it wasn't worth questioning. If it wasn't him, Kokichi often preyed on Kiibo and Gonta: both gullible enough to let him walk all over them.

...

It probably wasn't worth thinking about too hard either.

\---

"Care to explain why you had me wait out here for five whole hours?! All these people kept staring and throwing currency at me!" Kiibo complained, burying his face into the collar of his oversized coat. He only wanted to be recognized as a regular guy, but he DID look like one of those street performers in his get up. The poor guy could never catch a break.

"Look Kee-boy. Some unexpected stuff came up... and then I kinda forgot that you were still out here. No big deal." He seemed to shrug it off, picking up the 100 yen coins that piled up in front of the poor robot.

"Seriously?! I bet you'd never do this to a human!"

_Yes he would_ , Shuichi thought to himself, remembering what he's had to go through the past year and a half. 

The four had gathered in a now quiet corner of the school's vast courtyard with a view to the school’s outdoor bathhouse. It was a large and somewhat gaudily decorated space that was styled like an actual onsen, despite not actually being a real hot spring. Despite that, it was a popular place for students to go after class. The cool autumn breeze was refreshing and there wasn’t a cloud in sight making this the perfect night for a soak. 

Kokichi managed to convince the rest of them to come dressed in all black and issued them all ski masks, despite insisting on still wearing his bright white uniform himself. The group of them together looked way too suspicious for their own good. 

"Nishishishi~ Stop your bellyaching, it was just a lie! A really lame one too." He looked genuinely disappointed in himself while shoving all the coins into his coat pocket. "Of COURSE I had you out here for a reason." 

"Then spit it out, you jerk!" barked Kaito, forcing Shuichi to try to quiet him down. 

"You didn't so happen to see any girls leave the bath, did you?", he said finally getting to the point. 

Kiibo put a finger to his chin, wracking the depths his memory banks to remember all the details. Shuichi felt secondhand embarrassment at how quickly he complied with Kokichi. 

"Erm... No? I can only recall the girls entering the bath. They started showing up two hours ago, although most of the girls showed up an hour later. I haven't seen anymore enter since then. I didn't realize humans could withstand such hot temperatures for so lon-" 

"Thaaaat's a little more detail than I needed to know, but thanks anyways." Kokichi interrupted, dismissive of Kiibo's undeserved attention to detail. "SIIIIGGGGHHHH... I don't know why I even bothered asking in the first place." 

There was that twinge in his chest again. That was a lie, without a doubt. Shuichi could just... feel it. For what purpose? 

But before he could have a chance to think about his possible motive, Kaito threw his arm around him and Kiibo and began dragging them towards the bath house. 

"Well that just means that the bath's filled to the brim with girls! Come on! What are we waiting around for?" exclaimed Kaito, throwing all caution to the wind and donning his ski mask. 

This was actually going to happen. 

It was hard not to feel elated when enveloped by Kaito's high spirited nature. Shuichi almost felt... good about this? It could have been forgotten that this was Kokichi's plot in the first place. Though just the reminder of such made him realized that they were leaving the diminutive mastermind behind. He glanced back to see Kokichi still where he initially stood, hands in his pockets. It looked as if he were searching around for something in particular... lacking any expression at all. The moment he realized that he was being watched, he began to laugh, quickly catching up with the rest of them with a skip in his step. 

"Hey guuuuuuys, don't forget about me!" said Kokichi. 

Unease was welling within the pit of Shuichi's stomach. Those black clouds were approaching fast. 

\--- 

"Hey! Watch where you're stepping, that's my foot!" 

"I didn't realize that robots could feel pain. What kind of lame downgrade is that?" 

"UGH! How DARE you- HEY! I told you to watch where you're stepping!" 

"Guys, shut up they're gonna hear us!" 

Through a narrow opening between fences and into the garden courtyard, the group of four tread through the thick traditional greenery closer and closer to their prize... While darkness kept them well disguised, it further obfuscated the path forward. 

Kokichi forced his way to the head of the pack, following the direction of the scent emanating from the herbal bath and the sound of laughing schoolgirls. He was completely in his element here. Every move he took was made with such grace, it made the rest of them look like bumbling toddlers. 

Shuichi kept his eyes completely fixated on the back of Kokichi's head as he quickly weaved through the bamboo stalks. The possibility of getting left behind was very real in this scenario, and if it came to that the chances of getting caught was pretty much 100%. His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. Whether it was due to the fear of being discovered or the fact that he was about to see how Kaede's bosom compared to the fantasies he pretended he didn't have was yet to be determined. 

Either way, it felt like he was about to throw up. 

"Ugh... This is such a bad idea. We should turn back." Shuichi grumbled. 

"Hey, don't be a such a coward Shuichi. You only get to be a teen once, you can't squander an opportunity like this!" Kaito slapped Shuichi on the back so hard he lost his balance. 

"H-hey!" Shuichi stumbled into Kokichi who had suddenly stopped in his tracks. 

Despite pushing his entire weight into him, Kokichi stood firm like a brick wall. He never looked more serious than he had now. 

"We're here." 

Everyone froze in their tracks. 

Time seemed to stop as the three of them eagerly awaited the next order. It wasn't until now that he realized the air was filled with the sound of familiar voices. He was so absorbed with his own anxiety he hadn't even noticed it. Everything suddenly became real. Laughter and conversations came from the people he saw every single day: friends, close acquaintances... people who trusted him… 

Like a skilled safari guide who had lined up the perfect shot Kokichi carefully signaled them over. One by one they each got into position. As they parted the reeds, and the steam began to dissipate, the scene unfolded before them and it sure was... something. 

Nearly all the girls in the 78th class were scattered about the bathing area. Spirits seemed high among them and many of them were indeed in varying states of undress, but instead of feeling the vigor of a man's passion fulfilled, Shuichi felt more like a creep. It was only exciting and heart-pounding for about 30 seconds before the reality set in that this was possibly the scummiest thing he'd ever done in his entire life. 

Shuichi had went through all this effort getting here and all he wanted to do was go back to his room. Yet, despite hating himself for it, he couldn't look away. His lizard brain simply wouldn't let him. 

There was Angie chasing after poor Tsumugi through the pool, wanting to touch her breasts. If the rumors Shuichi had heard about Angie's strange cult were true, she probably didn't realize how inappropriate her actions were... 

Tenko was, of course, sitting uncomfortably close to a towel smothered Himiko. It looked like she was trying to give her a piece of jewelry despite Himiko's complete lack of interest. Tenko HAD to have known that Himiko simply wasn't interested by now, right? The two have been going at this weird back and forth for over a year now. He almost felt bad for both of them, but it couldn't be helped. 

Elsewhere, towards the far edge of the bath, Maki was quietly soaking alongside Aoi and Sakura from the A class. He hadn't realized that they were acquainted at all, but they seemed to be getting along well. It seemed like he was constantly hanging out with her, but he still had a lot to learn. 

_She must have come here right after we trained... No wonder why she sped through her reps faster than usual._

He couldn't hear what they were saying, but something Aoi said caused her to laugh. Were girls always like this when boys aren't around? 

Not long afterwards, Kyoko showed up to join them. Her long lilac hair was tied up in a tidy bun and for some reason she was still wearing her gloves. Shuichi felt his heart stop for a moment. 

Their relationship they had started out as a purely practical one, though in time they had grown to be fairly decent friends. She was the other Ultimate Detective attending Hope's Peak, though he never felt even close to her level. They often studied with each other and peer reviewed each other's work, but her work never seemed to need it... Despite being in the same grade, Kyoko always felt more like his senpai. 

Shuichi gasped, taking a good long look at her as she removed the towel and entered the bath... He clenched his legs, trying to repress the rush of weird feelings he just felt, hoping Kokichi wouldn't see. It would be REALLY bad if he allowed any of this into their working relationship. 

He closed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. If he didn't, he was going to go insane. He backed himself up, giving himself some space and actually see how the others were doing. 

Kiibo seemed totally confused by the situation, maybe even concerned. 

Kaito on the other hand looked like he was having the time of his life. He had been muttering play by plays of what he saw, constantly nudging Kiibo to take a look. 

Kokichi on the other hand looked completely still. 

Just like how he was before they entered the bath house, his face was completely neutral. For someone who set this whole thing up, he sure didn’t look like he was enjoying any of it. No, it looked like he was waiting for something to happen… Something was definitely up. 

"Hey Kokichi... What are you-" 

But the moment Shuichi opened his mouth, the worst thing that he could possibly thought of happened. 

"Hey! It's about time you got out here, Kaede!" 

_O- Oh no... No way..._

Could he dare to look...? He really shouldn't. He DEFINITELY shouldn't. It would be such a huge betrayal of her trust! She was the first friend he made here and she always there for him and always stuck out her neck for him... How could he even think of doing this? 

_... O- one look. One look and I'll head back... You're such a pathetic piece of shit, you know that?_

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." Shuichi muttered under his breath as he reapproached the vantage point.

There she was. Kaede Akamatsu. The person closest to his heart. 

She had put her hair up in milkmaid braids, the soft lighting from the traditional lamps made them look like strands of shimmering gold. The steam rising from the hot waters had caused her face to develop a rosy complexion. The towel she had seemed way too small for her, causing her cleavage to show prominently. It was way too cute for Shuichi's own good. 

Apparently she had just exited the dressing room with Junko- They were chatting quietly between each other. Another strange association... or maybe he just simply needed to expand his circle of acquaintances. Kaede was way more popular than he was, so it wasn't too much of a stretch to see her with others. 

Junko leaned into Kaede and whispered something before the two burst into uncontrollable laughter. She then slapped her hard on the back, causing Kaede to let go of her towel. 

"Ack! Junko~!" Kaede cried. She quickly covered her breasts with her arms, but it was more than enough time for Shuichi to see everything. 

_HOLY SHIT... THIS IS-!_

"HEY! What are you guys doing here?!" 

He quickly turned to see the 78 B's class rep, Chiaki Nanami behind them, puffy-faced with hands on her hips. 

Busted. 

He turned back around to see that everyone was now staring directly at them. Shuichi's heart just about died. 

"This is wrong, you guys gotta leave right now!" She got into a fighting stance, bobbing up and down. "If you don't I'll definitely take you guys down!" 

"This is bad Koki-" Shuichi started, before realizing that Kokichi was long gone. "AH WHAT THE HELL?!" 

"We gotta go!" Kaito burst out before booking it, immediately garnering a mob of furious girls lobbing anything they could get their hands on. Kiibo was second out the gate to not much more success. 

Third up to bat, Shuichi's legs became jelly and collapsed beneath him. His head was spinning as angry girls slowly amassed around him. Was this the end? 

What happened next was a blur. 

With pure animalistic instinct, Shuichi scrambled out of the bath house out into the courtyard, dodging punches and rocks. All he could do was bolt full speed into the night. He had no idea where he going and neither did he care. Worst still, Tenko was fast on his trail. 

"YOU DEGENERATE! GET BACK HERE SO I CAN THROW YOUUUUUUUUUU!" 

_This was a mistake why did I even agree to this I didn't even want to do this why did I'm such an idiot why would I ever say yes I totally deserve this **GOD I’M SUCH AN IDIOT WHY DID I -**_

\--- 

After a solid hour of frantic chasing, Shuichi finally lost his pursuers. It only took running through the faculty campus- a move so risky that even Tenko gave up. 

He found himself catching his breath by the sandbank of the stream bordering the academy. Adrenaline surged through his body, causing his now sticky skin to tingle all over. He pulled the mask off allowing him to feel the cool night air run through his hair. 

"God, I hope Kaito and Kiibo are okay." Shuichi said to himself, knowing that this was still partially their faults. Though he was off the hook, he could still hear the shouts of angry classmates in the distance. He glared at the ski mask he held in his hands. He still had unfinished business. 

There was always a spot Kokichi would go to after one of these "excursions". 

Shuichi followed the stream about half a kilometer southwards to a large pedestrian bridge that no one seemed to ever use. It took a little bit of shuffling through some bushes and reeds to get through, but Shuichi knew how to get to the bridge's underside. By now it was a pretty average event in his life. 

Down here was a modestly sized concrete space that was hidden from the view of pedestrians. The area was kept remarkably manicured and swept for what it was. At some point an entire couch from the dorm's common area was smuggled down here, though no one ever used it due to the fear of it being filled with bugs and mold. And as always- there he was, draped with one of the towels from the bathhouse, sitting next to the water with a plastic bag full of soft drinks. 

"Hey Kokichi. 

"Hello again~ Did you have fun?" 

"... What do you think?" 

Kokichi patted the spot next to him. He really didn't want to this time, but since he was already here he may as well accept his invitation. Shuichi walked over to the usual spot and sat once again. 

That asshole had that stupid smile on his face. 

He refused to return eye contact with the imp, trying to communicate some sort to sense of frustration, but Kokichi didn't seem to care. He always enabled his bullshit every single time no matter how bad it was, so what could he possibly fear losing? 

"I don't know Shuichi, you seemed to have a lot of fun staring at Nancy Drew's ass. Or at least your dick did." Kokichi quipped, taking a swig of grape soda. He drove a nail directly into Shuichi's nerves. "I mean, I can't say I blame you... but I should remind you that she _IS_ the Headmaster's daughter." 

_Goddammit._

Shuichi's head fell into his hands. "Please... don't tell anybody." 

"Beg." 

Kokichi had all the cards in this situation. As demeaning as it was, he had no choice but to obey. Hesitating for a moment, Shuichi prostrated himself before him. "I... beg of you to not tell anybody. Please." 

"Woooooow... You actually did it. That's just embarrassing. Maybe I should have you do something even funnier next time." Kokichi said in a snide manner. 

"Well what did you want me to do?! Is this what you wanted from this whole thing? Blackmail?!" Shuichi snapped, getting back up and trying to pick up the broken pieces of his dignity off the floor. 

"Blackmail? HAHAHAHAHA! That's pretty funny, Shuichi. Look, I have enough dirt for three LIFETIMES worth of servitude from you!" NOTHING about this situation was funny to the boy detective. 

"...Then why did you do this?" Shuichi got serious. There clearly was something else to this whole thing that he was neglecting to admit. 

Kokichi laughed for a moment, patting Shuichi on the back in the same way Kaito often did. "Oh Shuichi~! You always have such a stick up your ass, so I took it upon myself to take you on a heart-pounding excursion to let loose of some of that pent up pressure~!" 

"Cut the bullshit Kokichi, tell me the goddamn truth! What were you looking for? Don't think I didn't notice!" 

Kokichi froze for a moment as if Shuichi said some sort of magic phrase. He emptied the rest of his soda into the river then slowly pulled himself up. Staring down at him such a menacing manner, he truly looked a million feet tall from this vantage point. He eyed him up and down with a look of pure disgust. 

D-Did he strike some sort of chord he shouldn't have? Did he go too far? 

"You know Shuichi, I'm pretty disappointed." The look on his face grew more and more terrifying with every waking moment as he leaned in closer with every sentence- "You keep thinking that I have ulterior motives for every little thing that I do?! ' _Kokichi what do you actually want from me?_ ' ' _Kokichi what are you scheming?_ ' What about you? You always cry at me and complain at me about how I force you to have fun with me, but I've never ONCE forced you to do anything with me! Either you actually ENJOY spending time with me or you have ulterior motives of your own! Well? What is it? Huh? WHAT IS IT? I thought you were a detective! Was that a lie too?! If you honestly believe that I'm out to get you, then prove it!" 

He pushed Shuichi onto his back with a solid step of his foot, keeping him solidly in place. His rage was palpable from underfoot. 

"H-hey! Kokichi calm down, I-I'm not trying to accuse you of anything... I was just... It looked like you were afraid of something. Like something was coming after you or something... I was... worried." Shuichi pleaded, though it didn't look like anything could possibly appease him. 

"Oh! In that case... Okay!" Kokichi said, his tone completely changed once again. He lifted his foot right up and immediately returned to where he sat. Shuichi watched with whiplash as he cracked open another soda- continuing where he was like nothing had ever happened. 

" _I'm_ not in any danger. The reason why I arranged this whole thing was to confirm something I've been suspecting for a while..." Kokichi continued. 

"And... what's that?" Shuichi's question gave Kokichi some pause, as if he had to think for a moment as to what he was allowed to say. 

" _ **Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm**_... Two months ago I saw something really weird. At first I thought I was finally going crazy, but I kept seeing it happen over and over again. Soooo I arranged this super-secret, all girls-only bath night to see if I was right or not." 

Shuichi waited patiently to see if he would continue, but apparently that was the end of thought. The bathing party seemed like a non-sequitur, though it's not like he would know any better. For once, this actually sounded like the truth. 

Shuichi realized that if he was being this vague about the subject, Kokichi was not likely to discuss the details. In fact, he may not have even been capable to for some reason. 

"So... were you right then?" he asked, still curious. 

"It'd be boring if I spoiled the reveal this early on, now wouldn't it?" Kokichi turned to him and smiled. It felt like he just heard something he wasn't supposed to hear. 

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" 

Kokichi stopped to polish off the rest of his drink. It was frightening how fast he managed to get through these things. 

"UGGGH... you made me reveal more than I wanted to because I didn't want you to _WORRY_ about me. How annoying..." 

That was true. Despite how little he revealed, this was far beyond what Kokichi would normally say. Was this... progress? It felt like the bond between them had grown somehow. 

Perhaps it was best not to push the issue any further. For now. 

"So wait, so you organized the secret girl's night out? How the hell did you pull that off?" Shuichi asked when he realized what Kokichi had said. 

"That? It was pretty easy, honestly. I just stole the Ultimate Musician's phone while she was performing a concert and started sending out invites. I managed to convince the most influential girls that this would be ~~TOTES SWEET~~ to do and they did the rest for me. When she was done performing, I guess she saw the texts and just rolled with it." Kokichi said, all nonchalant. Was this a part of his ultimate talent? It certainly didn't seem like an easy task to pull off. He started ruffling through the plastic bag again for another drink. "Oh! It totally wasn't a part of the original plan, but after Kaito decided to roll along, I sent that Nanami an anonymous message warning her about peeping toms. Ni-shishi~ Watching you guys get chased out like pigs was the highlight of night FOR SURE." 

Shuichi was beginning to think that they both had a radically different definition of fun. 

"...Thanks." he sighed. 

It had to have been 4:00 in the morning at this point and Shuichi still had to deal with the fact that he promised to meet with Kyoko in a few hours. Ignoring the fact that it was going to be EXCRUCIATINGLY awkward now, he desperately needed some sleep. With that, he got up and brushed the dust off his pants. 

However, before he could leave, Kokichi stopped him. 

"Shuichi. Here." Kokichi pulled a can of black coffee out of the bag and tossed it to him. "I know you don't like the sweet stuff, so I got you this instead. You can thank Kiibo later." 

He fumbled with the can before he could process what had just happened. It was his favorite brand. Shuichi had no idea Kokichi knew. 

"Oh uh... Thanks." Shuichi was taken aback. It was difficult to believe that Kokichi was capable of such consideration. That's when Shuichi suddenly remembered something: "Hey, when you asked me if I wanted to see something fucked up... What was up with that?" 

"Oh yeah, that. It's actually in the stream right now. Go take a look." 

Was this really a good idea...? Against his better judgement, Shuichi walked up to the edge of the stream and peered in. 

"I don't get it. There's nothing here but..." 

The joke finally dawned on him. 

"... my reflection." 

Kokichi burst out in hysterics. "AHAHAHAHAHA-! GET IT? CUZ ONLY SOMEONE FUCKED UP WOULD WANNA GO PEEP ON GIRLS WHILE THEY BATHED!" 

... 

Shuichi shoved Kokichi into the stream and made his way back to the dorms. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You made it to the end! Congrats! Give yourself a pat on the back, you lucky devil you! Or maybe you just skipped to the end. That's fine too. 
> 
> Well, what did you think? 
> 
> What do you think Kokichi was looking for, huh? What a mysterious fellow...
> 
> Poor Shuichi is experiencing some hormone-induced confusion in his life at the moment. Being a teenager is hard. I hope he gets as much sleep as he can for tomorrow... he's probably going to need it.


	2. A Study in Violet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi only got an hour of sleep. That's probably enough, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, someone throws up in this chapter. I know some of you might feel squeamish about that sort of thing. Thanks for understanding.

"I can see why they _might_ have come to that conclusion, but relying on DNA analysis alone is a rookie mistake. None of the other evidence come close to suggesting that the wife did it... It makes me wonder if the bureau even investigated the same crime scene." Kyoko Kirigiri flipped through the official police report before her, cross-referencing them with her own observations she had written in her notebook.

Shuichi and Kyoko sat across from each other at a large rectangular table littered with various documents and files as well as some snacks. He himself utilized the high-end laptop provided to him by the academy, but it always impressed him how Kyoko insisted on doing things the old-fashioned way. It had become a regular practice for the two ultimate detectives to skip Homeroom and meet Wednesday mornings to go over their case files. 

Normally Wednesday mornings were Shuichi's favorite. Kyoko would reserve a private study room and buy breakfast for the two. Afterwards they would go through the ritual of going over their respective cases and review each other's work. Shuichi always felt like he had nothing to contribute, but she always seemed to appreciate his presence. Furthermore, Kokichi never seemed to want to bother him when she was around. 

On a normal day, Wednesdays were decidedly the best. But today was not a normal day. 

Shuichi could feel his palms getting sweatier with every passing second. He kept reading the same sentence over and over but his brain simply wouldn't accept the info. His mind was preoccupied with too many things with only an hour of sleep to process them. Every time he glanced up from his screen at his colleague, he could feel his face get hot. It felt inappropriate to simply be alone in the same room. The pain welling up in his chest was unreal. 

Kokichi may not have been here physically, but still managed to ruin the one day of respite in his week.

_You need to tell her._

"Are you alright? You seem out of it today."

He took a nervous sip from his can of coffee. 

"Huh? Oh no, I'm fine. J-just getting off to a slow start this morning is all."

"Can you take a look at these photos for me? I need your advice." Kyoko slid a manilla file over the table to him. 

"U-Um... Yeah, sure of course. What am I supposed to be looking for?" he said as he opened the file. 

Dozens of photos of a mutilated person barely recognizable as a middle-aged man scattered upon the table. Stab wounds riddled the body just about anywhere the weapon could fit causing parts of the body to look like cubed steak. At first glance, it was difficult to determine what was flesh, viscera, or blood- it all just seemed to morph together into a horrid mush.

He began shaking uncontrollably. 

"The police detective seems to think that a kitchen knife is capable of causing these wounds, but the entry wounds look far too small for the blade they have in evidence. What do you think?"

Shuichi puked on the floor. 

Kyoko burst out of her seat. Working quickly, she moved to support his shoulder and back to keep him steady. Shuichi was wavering in the chair he sat, his vision fading in and out. Tears streamed down his face as he lost his ability to breathe regularly. A painful migraine was setting in fast, falling deeper and deeper into an endless void. Was this what dying feels like?

"Hey Shuichi, stay with me. You're okay. Everything's okay." Kyoko tried reassuring him, quickly covering up the grisly photos with whatever papers were on the table with her free hand. "Breathe." 

Shuichi grabbed at his scalp, trying to keep himself from whimpering. Using her voice as an anchor, he slowly started to ground himself. From his toes up, he could slowly start to feel again. Inhale then exhale. One step at a time. 

Given a few minutes to collect himself, Shuichi stabilized.

Knowing that he was able to take care of himself now, Kyoko finally let go. "See? You're fine." 

Kyoko handed him a glass of water and a napkin to wipe the puke off his face before turning to pack the files up. She then made a phone call to the school's housekeeping, informing them that there was an incident and that they were done with the room. It looked like study day was ending early. 

"I'm sorry. I-I don't know what happened." Shuichi said. 

She remained emotionless as she handed him his things. 

"Come on, let's get you some fresh air."

\---

It wasn't quite coat season yet, but it was getting rather chilly out. Shuichi and Kyoko had just been walking about the campus's innumerable nature trails in quiet tranquility. Only hours earlier, the courtyard had been a hunting ground where Shuichi ran for dear life. What a difference a few hours could make. It was exactly what he needed to clear his head. 

When they reached a shaded maple grove, Kyoko stopped. 

"Hey. I'm sorry for having you look at those photos. I sometimes forget how awful they could be for anyone not used to it." she said remorsefully. 

Shuichi felt bad for ruining things for Kyoko. Why couldn't he be stronger? 

"...I'm such a bad detective. Why am I even here?" Shuichi averted his eyes.

"That's not true." Kyoko stopped him from continuing his self-doubt. "Every detective has their own speciality. Just because you don't specialize in violent crime doesn't mean you're a lesser detective. Think about it this way. When people come to you for help finding the things they've lost or were stolen, they come to you so you can return the things that matter most to them. When people come to me, what matters to them is already gone forever. Your work is severely undervalued, Shuichi." 

He had never thought about it that way. 

"That said, you need to learn to control yourself better. If you can't learn to at least project more confidence in yourself, this world will grind you up. Look, I don't know what your ID is-"

"...It's DSC 365..." Shuichi chimed in.

Kyoko looked shocked. 

_W-was it really that bad? Why did you have to go and say it, you idiot?!_

"Erm... What matters is that you were scouted by the academy. Grandfather never believed in the ranking system anyways..." She coughed to clear her throat. That only made him feel worse. "Regardless, what I'm trying to say is that I can tell you didn't grow up in the detective community. That's a good thing, I reassure you, but I don't want you to get hurt. I've seen countless cases where detectives have killed each other for status and that's just within the sphere of the Detective Library. Dealing in secrets is dangerous."

Ignoring some of the more backhanded segments of her pep talk, Shuichi found her words to be poignant. He had no idea why Kyoko even bothered trying to help him, but she did anyways. On the few occasions he observed her talking to other detectives she acted like she hated them. In fact, when they first met, she seemed to avoid him at all costs. It wasn't until the school forced them to work on a case together that she even spoke a word to Shuichi. Now she was looking after his best interests. She... wanted to see him grow stronger. 

He needed to do it. 

"Kyoko, I have a confession to make."

"Hm?"

"Last night... at the bath..." Shuichi took a moment to breathe, realizing he was blushing again. He shut his eyes tight, getting ready for the inevitable slap across his face. "Iwasoneofthepeoplespyingonyouguys."

The slap never came. Instead, he received five seconds of complete silence. When he opened his eyes, Kyoko was looking directly at him.

"I know."

"Uuuuuueeue-w-what?"

"You're wearing the same shoes you wore last night. There's even mud still crusted on them."

Her response was unnervingly mundane.

"...And by the way you've been looking at me all morning, I could only assume you saw... everything." 

She folded her arms and stared into his soul, waiting for Shuichi to say _something_. It took him a few tries before he could actually vocalize a real sentence. 

"Um... Aren't you mad at me or something?" Shuichi asked, trying to ease some of this tension growing thicker with every second.

"Of course I'm mad at you! I'm furious, as a matter of fact!" Kyoko's voice suddenly turned hostile, causing Shuichi to shudder. Turning away from him, she continued- "No, that's not quite right... I'm horribly disappointed. Pompous egotists are a dime-a-dozen among detectives and... I didn't want you to be the same." 

Hoo boy. 

Shuichi was at a loss. He didn't know if he should touch her shoulder or... That would probably be inappropriate. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? 

"I-I'm sorry. I should have never agreed to it." Shuichi apologized, but she didn't respond back. 

 

He awkwardly looked around trying to think of something to do. That's when something caught his eye among a tree roughly 50 meters away: Kokichi with a pair of binoculars. He was actually wearing his school uniform for once so he didn't recognize him. When Shuichi looked at his general direction, Kokichi threw him a thumbs up and a giant smile.

_Ughh... Why now?_

Shuichi mouthed 'GO AWAY' in the most exaggerated motion, sweeping his arm away towards him. To his surprise, it actually worked. Kokichi mouthed back 'OKAY', throwing up the ok sign and started to climb down. As he started to scurry away, he stopped to turn around to give him Akanbe using his middle finger. Within moments he disappeared into the brush. 

Giving a sigh of relief, Shuichi turned back to the matter at hand.

"I guess... When you tell your dad about all this, I'm going to get expelled, huh?" He said. Things were looking pretty dire for him at this point.

Kyoko gave a resigned exhale. She turned to face him with a furled brow.

"Okay, first of all I would never rat anyone out to my father. I refuse to have a relationship with him like that. Secondly, even if I did, you'd never get expelled." Kyoko said bluntly.

"I... Wouldn't get expelled for something like this?" Shuichi asked, confused by her phrasing.

"No, I mean you would never get expelled. For _anything_." She clarified.

_...What?_

"At least since my father's predecessor was the headmaster, there has not been a single expulsion for any reason in the Main Course. And trust me when I say that there have been many incidents that _should_ have deserved such a punishment. I'm pretty sure that you could even get away with detonating a bomb during the practical exams and all you would get is a temporary suspension. The Academy is more concerned with covering up bad press than protecting its own students." Kyoko brushed her hair off her shoulders. 

"Wow, that's really messed up."

"You don't know the half of it. It's best that you keep as far away from these affairs as much as possible."

It figured that Kyoko would have some sort of insight into the inner workings of the school considering her familial ties, but he had no idea how much of a burden it seemed to be on her. 

"So what was Kokichi trying to accomplish?" she asked, trying to change the subject. The question caught him off guard.

"You mean just now...?" Shuichi asked.

Kyoko looked around, confused. "What are you talking about? I mean yesterday."

"...Oh uh... You knew about Kokichi's involvement too?"

"On my way to the bathhouse yesterday, I noticed Kokichi sitting in a tree with a pair of binoculars. He was staring at the Izuru Kamakura statue by the main school building about 50 or so meters away. I asked him what he was doing and he told me to go away, so I did. I figured it wasn't worth my time. When it was revealed that we were being watched, I figured Kokichi was likely behind it in some way." Kyoko recalled. "And now that I've confirmed that you were involved, I feel confident that my suspicions were justified." 

_...Huh..._

Kokichi had been staring at the statue in the square? Why was he staring at a static object? When Shuichi caught him looking around last night, it looked like his target was something that could have moved around... He said that he had been seeing something suspicious for a couple of months now, but Kokichi revealed that to him in confidence... Should he say something? Was he even allowed to?

What was he thinking? When had he ever owed _ANYTHING_ to Kokichi?

...

"He only told me that he wanted to take me on some 'heart-pounding excursion'. I figured he was up to no good so I went along with it to keep my eye on him... I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary though." Saihara **lied**. He bit his tongue, hoping Kyoko wouldn't see through him.

"Hm. I see. It was likely nothing then."

She bought it. 

Conflict swirled within him- He lied to her... Someone he trusted... And yet, there was a surge of thrill flowing through him. Getting away with lying to his superior felt... powerful. Was this how Kokichi felt all the time...? 

Shuichi could only hope that Kokichi really wasn't up to something dangerous...

"You still shouldn't have gone. Let Kokichi get into his own trouble- You don't need to get wrapped up in that business." Her voice had returned to its normal inflection. All the messy stuff had been properly tucked back behind her façade once more. "Be sure to be properly rested next week. We should be able to be far more productive if you do." 

She started walking away, but Shuichi knew he couldn't just leave this conversation where it stood. 

"I'm still sorry- I don't even know if I deserve forgiveness for this." Shuichi said, catching up with her.

Kyoko stopped to face Shuichi once more. Though her expression didn't change, he noticed her fists begin to clench. 

"To be honest, I don't know if you do either. I'm willing to give you a second chance- though only if you apologize to Kaede. Out of all of us last night, she's the one that deserves to hear that from you the most." She said. He didn't know what he expected, but this certainly wasn't what he wanted to hear. 

He gulped. 

"Y-yeah. I know I have to- I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if I didn't, but it's just-"

"Facing the truth is hard, but that's the life of a detective. If I didn't have faith in your ability to own up to your mistakes, I would have simply begun ignoring you since last night. The reason why I've been so frustrated is because I have high standards for you. I believe you have the potential to become a truly great detective, but if you let others take control of your agency and pull you off the right track, you're going to end up disembodied in an abandoned observatory." 

That was... way too specific to be a random analogy. Probably shouldn't ask. 

"Alright. I'll do it. Thanks for believing in me. Sorry for puking earlier..." Shuichi was still embarrassed that he reacted like that. It wasn't even like he hadn't seen coroner photos before either. 

"Don't worry about it. You should probably apologize to housekeeping, though."

Kyoko extended her hand to him for a handshake and as she did, he caught a glimpse of deep scarring extending out from the base of her gloves. It looked... painful. In all honesty, Shuichi felt that she had gone too easy on him, but she still gave him another opportunity to become a better person. He would have to be the biggest idiot in the world to throw that away. 

As they shook on it, Kyoko stopped to look over Shuichi's shoulder. At some point, Himiko had walked up to them and he hadn't really noticed. 

"Hey Shuichi. Have you seen Tenko? I haven't seen her all morning." The pint-sized ~~magician~~ mage asked. 

Shuichi had painful flashbacks from a few hours prior. 

"Erm... Not since I woke up this morning, no." He said. Technically not a lie. "Why? I thought you hated that she followed you everywhere." 

Himiko stayed quiet for a moment while pouting. She looked offended. 

"...It's weird that she wasn't at my door this morning. She always walks behind me to homeroom. It's usually a huge pain, but now it's an even HUGER pain because now I have to find her." Beads of sweat were forming on her temple. It really did look like she was exerting herself looking for Tenko, though that wasn't saying much. Simply walking off campus to the convenience store was exhausting for her. "If she doesn't show up soon, I'm gonna run out of MP before noon..."

It confused Shuichi why she wouldn't find this to be a boon, but it was concerning that Tenko was apparently missing.

"So she wasn't in attendance at homeroom this morning?" Kyoko had pulled out her notebook and began taking notes. 

"No. That's why I'm looking around for her, silly... I could have used my tracking magic to find her, but I've used up too much MP already..." 

It certainly was strange. Tenko was one of the students that always attended class, but it would have been stranger had there not been a more simple explanation to where she had gone. 

The two detectives turned to look at each other- They both shared the same thought. 

"Himiko. Last night when that 'incident' occurred, Tenko must have been running around all night. She was probably exhausted and needed the extra rest. Give her time. I wouldn't worry too much about it." Kyoko said, closing her book and pocketing it. 

Himiko didn't look particularly convinced, but it didn't look like she had much of a choice but to accept that answer. 

"Yeah... Maybe that's true... I guess I'll go back to my room to recharge my mana then. What a pain..."

As Himiko began shuffling down the trail, Shuichi figured now would be the best time for him to leave as well. Time to face the truth.

"I suppose I should go talk to Kaede then. I'll see you around."

\---

"...Anyways that's basically what happened."

"I see... So that's how it is..." Kaede spooned sugar into her cup. She looked uncharacteristically demure the way she shrunk into the café chair. 

For most students, getting around town was often a frustrating ordeal. The moment they leave the campus, they become swarmed by gawkers and paparazzi hoping to catch a glimpse of the Ultimates. For that reason, being only a five-minute walk from the main building and offering a private dining area and special deals for main course students, the Red Star Café was a popular spot for students at the academy. It was always Kaede's favorite place to take Shuichi... so it only seemed fitting to take her there to talk. 

"I can't stress how sorry I am." Shuichi hung his head in shame. His eyes still felt tender from crying that morning. "I'm not asking for forgiveness... but I needed to tell you anyways."

Kaede reached across the table, placing her hand on his. Her touch was so gentle, he could feel his heart skip.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Shuichi. Of course I forgive you." To Shuichi, Kaede's smile was more intoxicating than the finest of wines at the moment. Retracting her hand, she began to blush feverishly. "...Though I guess that means you really did want to see me like _that_ , huh?"

Her sudden choice of words were strange. 'Really did'? Could she have...?

"Um... Kaede... What do you mean by that?" Shuichi asked.

"Oh... It's just that Kokichi told me this morning that he forced you to go last night and if you didn't he was going to hurt you..." 

"E-Excuse me?! Kokichi told you what?!" Shuichi spat out, nearly choking on the biscuit he was eating. He couldn't believe his ears. 

"Yeah, before homeroom he pulled me aside and started sobbing before telling me his side of the story. He told me 'The burden of guilt weighing down on my heart will slowly kill me if I didn't confess' and 'Please don't blame Shuichi, he's 100% innocent'. In hindsight, the theatrics probably should have been a red flag, huh?" Kaede said, taking a sip of her drink.

What was the point of all this? Why would Kokichi drag him along with all this in the first place if he was just going to try to take the blame anyways? Too many things were adding up to something rotten and Shuichi was dreading the realization that he was going to _have to_ face him about it eventually.

"It's cute, ya know? The way he tried to protect you. It's like he cares about you or something. Hehe..." Kaede teased. 

"E-erm... Y-yeah I guess..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, you made it to the end again! I hope I haven't lost you guys yet. 
> 
> Oh Shuichi, being forced to examine gory coroner photos of murder victims to try to determine how they were murdered is not fun. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. No one should ever have to go through that. 
> 
> Damn. Getting too real right now. *Ahem* 
> 
> Kyoko seems to really want Shuichi to stop hanging out with Kokichi, but what could he possibly do if Kokichi keeps forcing himself into his life? Could it really be _that_ consequential? 
> 
> The cards are now properly in place for some fun to start... 
> 
> Til' next time, squidos.
> 
>  
> 
> (The Kaede section used to be 2k words longer. Thank GOD I cut that shit out, good **LORD**.)


	3. Rainy Days and Bitter Chestnuts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I updated the summary because I think it's appropriate time for it. Considering I had written the original summary late at night while trying to be as vague as possible, I'm surprised any of you guys clicked on this fic!
> 
> Anyways, thanks for your patience!

It had only been a night and a day, but it felt like it had been years since Shuichi had a normal morning. A full, _uninterrupted_ six hours of sleep did the young man wonders. 

The soft pitter-patter of rain against his umbrella provided the perfect backdrop for his walk to the main school building. Others may have found the rain to be a downer, but Shuichi found rainy days to be pleasant. Even if the rain may have soaked through his socks or endangered his papers, something about the last of the fall showers warmed his heart in an indescribable way. 

"Hey Shuichi, Wait up!" Shouted Kaito, quickly catching up to him from behind. 

"Ah- hey how are you? Sorry I didn't get to see you at all yesterday..." Shuichi said. 

"Don't worry about it, bro... I was sleeping all day anyways. Damn, thanks to that asshole Kokichi I was running for three hours straight..." Kaito rubbed the back of his neck. "Shoulda never believed that guy... Sorry I couldn't make training last night- I seriously needed that sleep."

"Wait, so you didn't go to training either?"

"What?! You didn't go?! Then that means..."

Maki Harukawa stood next to the school gate. Her blood-red glare stabbed daggers directly into the two boys. 

"Hey, what gives? I showed up at the usual spot last night and neither of you showed up! What's the point of dragging me into this stupid thing only for you two to always slack off?" Maki's tone of voice was cold as ice. 

Shuichi and Kaito looked at each other, wincing. Both suddenly regretted not powering through their exhaustion and just showing up. 

"Haha... Oh hey, Maki Roll... So about that..." Kaito tried recovering, but it was a futile effort. 

"Whatever. Tonight I'm doubling your reps." She spoke bluntly. "Don't think I won't be counting either."

Shuichi groaned. He could barely make his regular goal in the first place, but he knew that things were gonna be way worse if he didn't go through with it.

In the beginning, Maki tended to avoid all other students. She never really spoke to anybody or participated in any school event she wasn't required to be a part of, in fact most everybody was kinda scared of her. Everybody except Kaito.

Kaito had a habit of finding students that were isolated, alone, and lost and forced them into companionship, even if they fought tooth and nail against it. Despite sounding horrible and manipulative, somehow he had a gift of making it actually work. That was how he and Kaito became friends in the first place. 

At first, Kaito pulled Shuichi out at night to train- usually nothing more complicated than push ups or sit ups- but one day he introduced Maki into the circle. She always complained and bemoaned the situation, but for whatever reason she did it anyways. It was honestly kind of impressive how well Maki did during training- She always managed to beat both boys to the goal, usually in half the time too. Now the childcare giver seemed to be the one calling the shots, not that Kaito was complaining. 

As the trio walked into the building together, Maki chimed up-

"Hey Shuichi. It's Kokichi's fault you didn't show up last night, wasn't it?" 

While not true in a direct sense, it did hold some sort of truth. 

"I mean... kind of?" Shuichi spoke timidly. He knew that Maki hated that they spent any amount of time together.

"I knew it." Maki said with a scowl. "Why do you hang out with that guy anyways? He's never been anything but trouble for you."

 _That's not true._

The thought appeared in Shuichi's mind for a brief moment before burying it.

"Come on Maki Roll, don't be so hard on Shuichi. It ain't his fault. The guy's a snake- forcin' his way into everyone's business-" Kaito pat her shoulder, causing her to completely freeze up. 

"D-don't touch me! Jeez..." She moved three steps to the right away from him, totally blushing. 

Shuichi had to think for a moment for what to say. 

"I... guess I kinda feel sorry for him? He doesn't seem to have any real friends and a part of me thinks he's just lashing out because he's lonely. Even if he's a big pain, it's usually just harmless stuff." Shuichi said. It was the best he could do and honestly it was perhaps the closest to the truth.

"Gee Shuichi, that's really noble of you but-" Kaito tried to say before getting cut off by Maki. 

"Kokichi's playing you like a fiddle, you _do_ realize that, right? The guy brags about lying all the time. I mean look at his talent- 'Ultimate Supreme Leader'? There's absolutely no way he didn't make that one up."

That was something that Shuichi always wondered about. He felt like he would have heard of him in the news or something before if it were true. 

"I mean, I can't argue that he's always lying, but faking his talent? Even the teachers call him by that title..." Kaito argued.

She sighed deeply.

"You idiot, don't you remember? At Hope's Peak, absolutely no student is under _any_ obligation to reveal their true-"

Maki stopped mid-sentence. 

Approaching the trio from the opposite direction were Peko and Fuyuhiko from the B class. 

As the two groups got closer, Peko stood up straight. She seemed weirdly guarded as she made a subdued, yet very clear physical barrier between Maki and Fuyuhiko. Despite her rather serious demeanor, something about this whole thing seemed to embarrass Fuyuhiko who averted his gaze from Shuichi and the others.

"Good morning, Maki." She said as they passed each other, nodding with a certain reverence.

"Hey." Maki replied, nodding as well.

There was a tense silence from the two boys as this ritual occurred. Shuichi sunk forward with his hands in his pockets, hoping it would end fast. When it was clear they were no longer within earshot, everyone could breathe again. 

"...So you hit on that yakuza boy again or somethin'?" Kaito broke the silence.

Shuichi half-expected Maki to smack him.

"...Stop trying to make that a thing." She shut him down fast. "Anyways as I was saying, no one's obligated to reveal their true talent. Some students may be compromised if they did. Don't you remember them asking you if you wanted a talent alias during the orientation process?"

"Yeah, even I remember that. I thought it was a really weird question at the time." Shuichi added.

"Man, you really expect me to remember that kinda thing? At the time I was just stoked to get into Hope's Peak! Plus- how could Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, possibly be anything BUT the Ultimate Astronaut?!" Kaito belted a bit too loud.

It was super corny, but Kaito's catchphrase always made Shuichi and Maki smirk.

\---

"Good morning everybody." greeted Shuichi, sliding open the door. 

The three had arrived a bit early, so the classroom was pretty sparse. Of course Kaede, the class rep, was already here and so was Kirumi who was setting up the classroom for the day.

Those two always showed up early. Kokichi, on the other hand, did not. 

There he smiled in his seat at the back of the classroom by the window, dressed in the Academy's classic brown and white uniform. His hands were placed neatly on his desk, along with all his other things. He looked way too proper for this not to be some sort of bit. 

Spotting him, Maki made a disdainful face.

"I'll wait out here until class starts." She said, noping out of the situation. 

"Ehhh... I guess I'll keep Maki Roll company." Kaito followed suit, leaving Shuichi to fend for himself. 

"Oh Shuichi~ surely you won't abandon little ol' me as well!" Kokichi chirped in a high-pitched voice. For whatever reason, it caused Kaede to giggle. 

_That wasn't even funny..._

Shuichi wanted to join Maki and Kaito outside, but he realized it was better to just get it over with. Since he sat directly in front of him, waiting for class to start was simply delaying the inevitable. 

"Good morning Shuichi! Nice to see you in today!" Kaede rushed up to see him. 

"Good morning to you too. How are you this morning? Rather rainy today, huh?" he replied, worrying if he was being a little too formal. 

"Oh, the rain's fine... The rainy season's about to end anyways so I'm not too worried about it. Oh! Rantaro just got back from his latest trip and he was disappointed that he didn’t get to s ee you yesterday! He said he got you some souvenier from... Tillsby? Tisbilly...?"

"That's right, he went to Tbilisi this time, didn't he?" Shuichi vaguely heard about it. Rantaro had apparently heard about a lead in The Caucasus and went to investigate. 

"Yeah, that's the one! Heh, please don't try to make me pronounce that- I'll just embarrass myself even more..." Kaede laughed. 

Shuichi felt it was nice to have such a nice, normal conversation for a change, all the while enjoying Kokichi's growing frustration from being ignored from the corner of his eye.

"Oh yeah, I meant to get you back that book you lent me. Here-" She began shuffling through her bag, pocket by pocket, section by section... "Ah shoot! Erm... I think I... Shuichi, I'll be right back!"

Kaede burst out of the classroom, leaving Kirumi, who was far too busy with deciding how she wanted to reorganize some books, and the two boys. 

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

"Good Morning Kaede~" Kokichi mocked, in a particularly exaggerated singsong voice as Shuichi took his seat.

"...Shut up." 

When the school finally opened up the new building last year, everyone in the class showed up extra early to make sure they didn't sit in front of Kokichi in the new classroom. That is, everyone except Shuichi who Kokichi kept up to play some sort of stupid game involving finding various papers he stole from his case files and hid around campus. In hindsight, he probably did this intentionally. At the very least, the view of the Tokyo skyline was pretty from this height. 

"Why are you here so early today anyways?" asked Shuichi.

Kokichi straightened his posture out. He looked like a giddy child told he was going to Disneyland. 

"Oh, I'm waiting for the punchline."

"..."

"You'll see."

As more and more students trickled in for the start of homeroom, Shuichi couldn't help but think about yesterday's conversation with Himiko. Tenko should have shown up by now, but she was still absent... If she were simply tired from running around the night before last, shouldn't she have recovered by now...? He kept glancing up at the clock as a nervous tick. Even as Rantaro showed up to chat with him about his latest exciting adventure, Shuichi couldn't focus. Kokichi's ominous answer should have been a clue that something was wrong... 

Tenko never showed up. Neither did Himiko.

"Alright class, let's take attendance."

The teacher listed students one by one, marking off their names as they were called.

Present: Kaede Akamatsu, Rantaro Amami, Gonta Gokuhara, Maki Harukawa, Ryoma Hoshi, K1-B0, Kaito Momota, Kokichi Oma, Shuichi Saihara, Korekiyo Shinguji, Tsumugi Shirogane, Kirumi Tojo, Angie Yonaga. 

Honestly not that bad.

Absent: Miu Iruma.

...

_Wait a second..._

"Hey teach'- Don't think none of us noticed." It sounded like this was the moment Kokichi had been waiting for. "Why didn't you call for Tenko and Himiko, huh? Huh? HUH?!"

The color drained from the teacher's face. This was clearly something he was dreading to discuss.

"... Unfortunately, Miss Chabashira and Miss Yumeno will no longer be attending Hope's Peak Academy. As of last night the two have been expelled." 

The classroom erupted in chaos. 

"-Wait WHAT?"

"Hey WOAH- What the hell for?!"

"Oh my goodness, what happened?!"

"Now that's just plain crazy!"

"Class, please-!" He tried to wait for the students to settle down, but that clearly wasn't going to happen any time soon. 

Shuichi was dumbfounded. Practically numb. 

What... happened last night? Last thing he remembered, Himiko was just walking back to the dorms to take a nap. What could she and Tenko- two fairly well-behaved students- possibly have done to earn an expulsion? Without thinking twice, he discreetly pulled out his phone and texted Kyoko about the incident amidst the chaos. It seemed like the right thing to do. 

"Ni-shishi~!"

As Shuichi turned to look behind him, Kokichi's smile began slowly twisting into something truly sinister. He was somehow expecting whatever was going on and he was getting some sort of sick high from it. 

"Now, why have they been expelled, Mr. Fujimoto?" Kokichi's voice cut through the crowd like the red sea, "Please explain to the class in 140 characters or less, if you would." 

"This is a private matter for the Academy and I will not be discussing anything else about this case! That is the end of this conversation!" 

That wasn't what he hoped to hear. 

"Tch. Typical." he sighed, deflating into his seat. Losing all motivation to continue, he began staring out the window wistfully, ignoring the fact that everyone in the classroom was now glaring at him. 

"If you know anything, you better speak up." Maki hissed. 

"Now listen to the teacher, Maki. This conversation is done." Kokichi brushed her off. 

Demoralized and getting nowhere, the class eventually dropped the subject. It was painfully obvious for everybody that Kokichi knew something no one else did, but something about the way he had acted... Shuichi had his doubts. After all this time, why was he showing such an obvious tell now? The way he'd been behaving recently... was that all just a lie as well?

That moment, Shuichi could feel a buzz in his pocket. He immediately pulled out his phone to see what Kyoko had to say, but unfortunately...

「Kokichi: hey wanna have bridge times

 

Shuichi: No.

Kokichi: aren't u curious?? what i actually know???

Kokichi: you picked up on that right??? i know ur a smarty pants. i know u pick up on subtext. 」

This was another trap. 

「Shuichi: I don't think you actually know what's going on.

Kokichi: rude!!! :(

Kokichi: ive been working so hard the past couple months just for u and this is how u repay me??

Kokichi: i even vouched for u for kay ay day

Shuichi: For something I never wanted anything to do with.

Kokichi: Now we all know that's a lie.

Shuichi: ...

Shuichi: I'm not going. Maki's gonna kill me if I don't show up to training tonight.

Kokichi: uggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggh

Kokichi: fuk that bitch this is way more important」

Five minutes pass.

「Kokichi: UGH fine ill tell you the entire truth but only if u show up

Shuichi: I need to go to training.

Kokichi: come after training or some shit idk just show up

Shuichi: ...fine. 

Shuichi: But only if you get me another coffee. 

Kokichi: damn ur high maintenance 

Kokichi: jeez

Shuichi: Do you want me to show up or not?

Kokichi: FINEEE ill shut up

Kokichi: u better show up or ill put spiders in ur bed」

Shuichi rolled his eyes as he put his phone away, only for it to buzz moments later. He was about to throw the phone across the room before realizing it was actually Kyoko this time.

「Kyoko: That's... concerning. I'm going to talk to the Headmaster and see if I can get anything out of him. I'll let you know what I find out. Until then, I strongly urge you to not discuss this matter with anyone, especially the faculty. 

Kyoko: If you manage to get any more info, please let me know immediately.」

She was his best bet for getting down to the bottom of this. Could those two really have… It had to have been a misunderstanding, right?

\---

"Gee, took you long enough... What is it, like 10:30? I thought you liked your beauty sleep..." 

It was actually 12:30. 

"That was... rough. But I did it." Shuichi re-adjusted the brim of his hat, moist from the sprinkle of rain. His legs felt like they were going to collapse in on themselves. Maki wasn't kidding...

Kokichi sat cross-legged next to the stream as usual, wearing a colorfully flecked wool sweater and corduroy pants. He was ripping open an expensive-looking white package wrapped with some silky paper. In the distance, the rumble of thunder could be heard. Not really paying that any mind, Shuichi walked over next to him and just quietly laid down, feeling sore. The cold of the concrete felt soothing against his back. Despite how hard the surface was, he felt he could easily close his eyes and just sleep... but there were matters to attend to. 

"Okay. I'm here. What did you want me here for?" he asked, staring blankly at the bridge above him. 

"Have you heard of Mitsuko Chiba?"

Weird question. Shuichi wracked his brain, but nothing came up. 

"Erm... no? Should I have?" 

"She was the Ultimate Light Novelist and attended Hope's Peak five years ago. You've probably read some of her stuff. She wrote under the name 'ALICE'." said Kokichi, continuing his tangent. 

He was surprised. ALICE had written hundreds of light novels... A lot of them were really great too. Shuichi had some in his personal collection. To think she was only a teenager was pretty amazing. 

"...Okay? Yeah, I've read some of her stuff. And?"

"Notice how I said she _was_ the Ultimate Light Novelist?" Kokichi paused for dramatic effect, "That's because she was murdered! Right here on campus!" 

"Alright." Shuichi was... unimpressed. If the story was true, why hadn't he heard of it?

"See, she had a _common_ ex-boyfriend who also wrote light novels and he was SUPER salty that she got into Hope's Peak but not him. One day, he snuck onto campus and KILLED her! ...And then he killed himself or whatever, but that's not important..." Kokichi was getting really into this narrative. "What IS important is that now her ghost haunts the campus... Wooooooooo~ So spooky~!"

...

"What was the point of telling me that story?"

Instead of answering, Kokichi pulled a light pink strawberry out of the box he demolished and gobbled it up. 

...

"...Kokichi, what are you doing?"

"I just bought some strawberries. And now I'm eating strawberries. Want one?" Kokichi popped another into his mouth. 

"Aren't those the kind you're supposed to give as gifts to co-workers or friends? Those things are ridiculously expensive!"

"Life's too short to eat shitty strawberries Shuichi, GOD. You've gotta like, live a little, ya know?" said the little man who subsisted primarily off cheap sugary drinks and convenience store oden. "And also- I literally just offered you one... So, like... Do you want one or not?"

"Look, I just- MMHGHH" Before Shuichi could say anything else, Kokichi shoved the 1000 yen berry into his mouth. Catching him off guard, Shuichi shot up in a coughing fit. He almost choked on the damn thing. 

"You know what, I'm just gonna go! I'm exhausted, I'm worried about Tenko and Himiko, and I don't have time for your games right now!" Shuichi threw his hands into the air and began walking away in a huff. 

In an unusual turn of events, Kokichi began to panic. 

"Woah, w-wait a sec- Don't you want to hear what I have to say?"

"I don't care! You're always walking all over me, treating me like shit, and I've just... LET you do it! This is me putting my foot down. I'm done." 

As he walked out from the protection of the bridge and into the glow of the lamppost overhead, Kokichi pulled out the last card left in his hand...

"...I've been seeing a doppelganger. Someone who shouldn't exist, but does. I think they work for the school. I don't know."

Shuichi stopped dead in his tracks, allowing the rain to fall on him. Kokichi sounded... _vulnerable_.

"I haven't told you yet because... I... don't fully know what it means yet. If I told you before, you wouldn't think I was cool and all-knowing..." 

It was far-fetched. Ghost stories? A doppelganger? Had he been reading tabloids or something? What did this have to do with Tenko and Himiko's sudden expulsion? It was weak.

"What a terrible lie." Shuichi sighed, continuing to leave. 

"Oh Shuichi, that stings-!" Kokichi grabbed at his chest as if he were stabbed, but Shuichi couldn't care less. "Don't you know that I'm worried about Tenko and Himiko too? Why'd you think I tried to make the teacher say more about the incident?! You noticed that I was putting up a bluff then, didn't you?! Hey! Don't you want your coffee? Stop IGNORING ME!"

In an instant, Shuichi felt a rush of air flow through his hair. The fucker snatched his hat and ran!

"HEY!"

Thus the game began. 

Kokichi took off into the reeds hat in hand. It was clear this wasn't his first time sprinting through the brush- like a true b'rer rabbit, he navigated the wild obstacles with ease. The detective made great haste chasing after him, following him along the clearing of the river bank below. Each step became more slick than the last as the storm began to roll in...

"You really like this stupid hat more than me, huh?! Come and get it then!" Kokichi screamed. Lightning illuminated the prize he waved back and forth before swerving away from the river and into the Academy's arboretum area.

"Ack- You son of a-! Get back here!" Shuichi almost slipped from the sudden turn, muddying the cuffs of his trousers as he was forced to climb up the short walls of the cut bank in pursuit. 

This terrain, riddled with a thick covering of rhododendron and ferns interspersed with maples and pines, made it exceptionally difficult to see, let alone move. Shuichi grew more irritated as each branch scraped his skin and bruised his flesh. He had no idea if he was actually going in the right direction, solely relying on the sound of the thief's roaring laughter as a compass. Just as it felt like he was never going to escape this hell, he burst out onto an actual trail. Stopping to catch his breath, he looked up. 

A little further down the trail- Kokichi standing perfectly still. He was waiting for him. 

Shuichi took a sprint-

_Not this time! I'm not going to let you-_

-And immediately slipped.

Face planting himself directly into the muddy trail, Shuichi really just wanted to give up on everything. Kokichi just wanted to be noticed and he, being the gullible idiot, had just enabled him once again. He probably would have just let himself stay there forever had it not been for his need to breathe. Pulling himself up, it was difficult to tell if there were tears running down his face or if it were just the rain. As he began wiping away the debris around the eyes something caught his attention... something glittering in the mud mere centimeters from where he landed. Shuichi pulled it out where it had been embedded and with a few polishes, it looked unmistakably familiar to him:

Himiko's beloved jeweled hair clip.

That's when he realized he recognized the trail he was at was the same trail he and Kyoko were walking just the day before- This wasn't much farther from where they had the conversation about Tenko. Shuichi became so fixated by this development, he hardly cared that Kokichi had made his way over to see what had happened. Even he was surprised.

"Is that..." 

"No doubt about it. It's Himiko's."

The two stood there, unsure how to react.

"Erm... So she dropped it or something? You'd think someone who wears this thing everyday would notice that such a heavy thing fell off her head." Kokichi pondered out loud.

It certainly was strange... 

"I... I'm gonna text her about it. Even if she's no longer allowed on the grounds, I can probably get it back to her off campus." said Shuichi. He felt unnerved, but couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"I mean, you can try. I've been texting the half-pint all day. Same with the other one. Neither responded back yet." Kokichi pulled his sweater off to give Shuichi some protection from the rain while he grabbed his phone.

_Gee, I wonder why they wouldn't wanna talk to you?_

「Shuichi: Hey Himiko. Sorry for everything that's happened. I don't know what's going on, but I found your hair clip and I wanted to arrange to get it back to you. Get back to me when you can. 」

"Okay, sent."

_Pi-pi~_

The sound came mere moments later, causing the two to jump.

"Damn! She responded fast, holy crap! She really DOES hate me! Woooow..." Kokichi swooned. "Anyways, what did she say?"

Dread began to seep into Shuichi.

"That... wasn't my phone." 

Hesitating, he called her number and as he feared, a musical tone began to play close by. It came from off the trail from the opposite side from where Shuichi had entered. Kokichi immediately moved to look for it, not intimidated by the thicket obscuring the way. As he completely vanished in the vegetation, it didn't take long for him to pipe up.

"Uhhh... Hey, Shuichi... I... found it. You're... um... gonna wanna see this." 

Did he _actually_ want to see this? Or was it simply his duty as a detective? Either way, he didn't have a choice in the matter.

Following Kokichi through the bushes, feeling sore from his bruises getting brushed against, what he saw shocked him-

Recently felled shrubs and snapped branches scattered among an artificial clearing- large claw marks were embedded into the trunks of all the trees around them. On the ground were indentations of giant animalistic footprints pooling rainwater... It looked as if some giant beast tore the place up... It was somewhat difficult to see due to the time of night, but it still amazed him how this area wasn't visible from the trail. 

Kokichi was squatting over a spot at the far end of the clearing. It was hard to see at first, but as Shuichi got closer, he realized that Kokichi was surrounded by splatters of rust-colored stains.

Shuichi felt sick.

Without saying a word, Kokichi handed him the phone. Its screen was cracked and stained with day-old blood. When he turned on the screen, it displayed hundreds of text notifications that had been sent from worried students at the academy, but Himiko would have never been able to see them.

"Her body isn't here." Kokichi, already assuming the worst, said what Shuichi was thinking out loud.

Hoping the deluge hadn't washed away vital evidence, the two began searching the area around the scene of the... incident to find any scant clues. As Shuichi began to think that they were out of luck, Kokichi broke the silence.

"Well... this is an unexpected turn of events..." 

He picked up an object roughly the size of an almond:

A single, red false nail.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure Himiko's gonna be able to just walk that off... right?
> 
> But oh, wow! Here we are again! Thank you so much for making it this far, it really tickles me pink!
> 
> I really wanna know what you guys think so far, especially in regards to what you guys think is going on. That'll be really useful info to have!
> 
> Until next time, see ya squidos!


	4. The Monster in the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, this ended up getting done a lot faster than I thought. I appreciate the folks who left their theories! Trust me when I say it was a good barometer for where I should be! 
> 
> Without further ado, let's get back to it!

"Tch.. Why are we doing this? Why can't it just be the two of us, Shuichi~?"

Shuichi swatted Kokichi's hand away from trying to caress the side of his face. Now was not the time. 

"I know you're only acting like this isn't a big deal because you don't want me to think you're scared... But please cut it out." 

Retracting his now-stinging hand, Kokichi slumped against the shed. Getting caught in the act sucked. 

"Yeah, well, maybe I wouldn't be so scared if this wasn't so scary." Kokichi pulled the false nail from his pocket and continued looking it over. "I don't get why you have to get _her_ involved though... Aren't you a detective? Can't you figure it out yourself? I'm not sure if you noticed this, but she kinda hates my guts..." 

Shuichi sighed. 

The two boys stood under the protection of one of the groundskeeper stations scattered about the campus, huddled around a heat-emitting vent. Though the storm seemed to have passed, its presence still lingered in the air around them and the resulting wind chilled their soaked bodies to the bone. Perhaps sticking around outside after running around in the rain wasn't the smartest move for either of them, but after stumbling upon... that scene... it wasn't as if they could have gone back to the dorms.

"Look, if... that... really happened to Himiko, Kyoko is the best person to ask for help." Shuichi struggled to say it out loud. "She's literally one of the foremost experts in the world on the subject."

"Pfft, who needs her? Didn't you become famous for solving some impossible murder too? Just shake out some of that mojo for this..." Kokichi grumbled. 

"Ahem."

They both looked over towards the source of the voice- Kyoko had arrived, briefcase of work tools in hand. Wearing a tailored camel-hair coat over a dark pencil skirt and tights, it was impressive how well composed she managed to look in such short notice.

"Thanks for coming. I know you were sleeping..." Shuichi said. 

Kyoko shook her head reassuringly.

"It's nothing, really. So there's been an incident?" she asked, looking him up and down. "You look... terrible."

"It's a long story... But yes, we've found... something." Shuichi began picking strands of dried mud from his hair out of self-consciousness. 

"So, I'm assuming by 'we' you mean you and... him." 

She looked over at Kokichi who had been kicking pebbles around with his hands firmly planted in his pockets, interspersed with deeply exaggerated sighs. He looked like a child told he was no longer going to go to Disneyland due to bad grades. 

"Erm... Yeah." Shuichi knew that she had LITERALLY just told him to stay away from Kokichi the previous day. "I suppose long story short, I accidentally chased him into a crime scene." 

This statement caught Kyoko's full attention.

"So you're saying he took you directly to the scene of a crime?" 

Oops.

Shuichi began to panic.

"W-wait a second, that's not what I-" 

"BWAHAHAHAHA~! YES! LET IT BE KNOWN TO ALL THAT I, THE SUPREME LEADER OF EVIL KOKICHI OMA, _KILLED_ HIMIKO YUMENO WITH MY OWN TWO- MHMMMHH-" Shuichi quickly muzzled the shrieking boy with his hands, grappling him from behind. It was imperative that Kokichi was stopped before he screamed anything else incriminating out where god knows who could hear. 

"...Killed?! Himiko was murdered?" Kyoko gasped, not acknowledging Kokichi's confession. "So it's as I feared..."

"That's right! And I was the one who- MHHMMHHHH" Kokichi broke free only for a moment before Shuichi tightened his grasp. 

Kyoko put her finger against her chin, trying to comprehend what this could all mean... 

"Please take me to the scene at once."

\---

Shuichi and Kokichi watched for nearly an hour as Kyoko thoroughly combed through the clearing and the area surrounding it under the bright light she had brought with her, taking photos of whatever she possibly could and recording the findings in her notebook. Occasionally she would call Shuichi to aid her in taking measurements or blood samples, but with the exception of some handiwork she seemed to prefer to perform the initial investigation by herself. 

"So Lady Sherlock, do you know what happened yet? I wanna go to bed..." Kokichi whined.

"Things certainly look dire... But without her body, there's not much of a solid determination I can make here. At least not right now." She explained, flipping through her notes.

"So this was all just a big waste of time!? Even I could have just said 'I don't know'!" 

"Kokichi, stop being an ass!" Shuichi felt so embarrassed that he was acting this way... Kyoko had no obligation to come out here in the middle of the night and do this, but she did anyways. She could have left the first, second, fifth, or tenth time Kokichi threw a fit, but she tolerated it nonetheless. 

"...I never said I didn't have any leads at all, only that there are still questions that need to be answered before I can say anything with certainty." Kyoko seemed completely unphased. "First of all, I can determine from the time it took me to walk from where Himiko, Shuichi and I spoke to here that this incident likely took place around 10:25 am on September 28th, accounting for the fact that she may have taken longer to walk due to her shorter stature. I feel fairly confident about this. The state of the blood left here at the scene does coincide with this timeframe as well."

Shuichi remembered that she _was_ actually taking notes when that conversation occurred. Maybe he should start doing that more often... 

Kyoko continued- "Perhaps more intriguingly, these claw marks and tracks came from something mechanical than anything organic. That's even assuming the idea that there could be some animal this large roaming about on campus. These claw marks in particular were almost certainly made with steel rather than keratin and the tracks seem to indicate that whatever made them weighed in the range of thousands of kilos. Other than that, I can't say I know what it could have been or how... I've looked all around the surrounding area, but these tracks only seem to exist within this clearing." 

Mechanical... Was she suggesting that this was the work of a robot? A huge one too, apparently. How did nobody see that thing moving around in broad daylight? 

"Kyoko, that's stupid. Magical teleporting mechas? You seriously think Shuichi and I are gonna buy that crock of-" 

"Kokichi!-" Shuichi was poised to scold him, but then Kyoko stepped in herself.

"Despite what you seem to believe Kokichi, I'm not adverse to you participating in this investigation. If you have a better understanding of what transpired, I'm very open to listening to what you have to say." Her tone was direct and cut like a knife. "It's not as if I don't realize that what I'm saying makes little logical sense. So please, if you would, explain what _you_ believed happened." 

Kokichi stared blankly at the two. 

"Okay I see how it is, Shuichi. So when _I_ try to tell you the truth, you call me a terrible liar, but when _Kyoko_ makes up some stupid ridiculous story, you automatically side with her." He shrugged, swerving the conversation. Despite the clearly passive-aggressive nature of his statement, he appeared as carefree as ever. "Yeah, no. That's tooootally fair."

"That's... not what I meant before… You kept talking about unbelievable… " Shuichi shut up, knowing that there wasn't really any other way Kokichi could have interpreted the scenario. While he had attached himself to the guilt-inducing bit of his remark, something else had caught Kyoko's attention...

"...And what was that truth?" 

It hadn't occurred to Shuichi that such a thing would matter. Wasn't he talking about weird occult nonsense? It sounded strange at the time, but clearly strange things were afoot here. Could it be possible that this event was tied to what he had seen..? 

"Wasn't it something about... doppelgangers? I was too angry at the time to question it." Shuichi asked casually.

Kokichi glared at him. Kyoko, now fully invested in what Kokichi had to say, knew what he had told Shuichi in confidence. It was clear that he viewed this to be an act of betrayal, but like lemons to lemonade, Kokichi realized he could use this situation to his advantage... 

"Oh yeah, you mean the doppelganger that was stalking you guys through the forest yesterday? I was trying to find out what they were doing, but you told me to go away... Damn shame too... If you didn't shoo me away I prooooobably would have saw what they did to Himiko..." Kokichi teased, hands in his pockets. It was hard to tell from this angle, but it looked as if he were squeezing an object tight in his fist.

"Stalking... us?" Shuichi was stunned. 

That thing that did all this... was following them? Then yesterday Kokichi wasn't spying on him and Kyoko. He was spying on that mystery target he followed into the arboretum. If anything, he was probably worried that it would try to hurt them. He was likely trying to make sure that they were safe... If it were true that would mean that Shuichi telling him off may have meant... Was he the reason that Himiko...?

This changed everything. 

Kyoko approached Kokichi, with more urgency than ever. 

"Please, if you've seen anything that would contribute in this investigation, we need to know immediately." 

"BWHAHahahaha~! And why should I tell some dog of the academy?" Kokichi laughed in her face. Shuichi had hoped that Kokichi would appreciate being relied upon, but clearly that wasn't his style.

"Tch...!" 

It was as if he magically knew the one sentence in the world that could get directly under Kyoko's skin. Clenching her teeth and visibly shaking out of outrage, the sound of Kyoko's leather gloves being balled into her fists sent chills down Shuichi's spine- He had _never_ seen her this angry before. Why was Kokichi being so antagonistic over this? Didn't they all have the same goal...? 

"...What are you trying to say?" Shuichi tried to understand. 

"What I'm _trying_ to say is that the Academy is in on this whole thing. They know that she's been killed, otherwise they wouldn't be going out of their way telling everyone that piss-poor excuse that she was 'expelled'. How do we know that Kyoko's not gonna go crawling to 'Daddy' to make us next on the 'expulsion list'?" Kokichi pointed his finger directly at the Headmaster's daughter. 

This was bad. Shuichi didn’t want his friends to fight...

"Kokichi... Please don't be like this. Kyoko's not the type of person that would-" 

"No, it's fair that he would think that. I would believe it too if I were in his position..." She sighed deeply. Even with faced with her greatest pet-peeve, Kyoko knew it was pointless to argue. "However, I should let you know that this means we're both in agreement. I am absolutely certain that those running the Academy know something about this incident and is doing everything in their power to keep it under wraps.”

It was clear now why Kyoko had constantly warned Shuichi not to talk to the faculty about Himiko and Tenko... The Academy covering up the murder of a student- That was the only possible implication, wasn't it? If the two had simply not attended homeroom for a couple of days, they wouldn't have batted an eye, but the response was so immediate... Of course, this would also mean that Tenko... Things weren’t looking so good for her. 

"So... What do we do then? If we can't go to the Academy for help, what _could_ we do?" Shuichi felt hopeless. 

Kyoko looked into Kokichi's eyes, still visibly disdainful of her. None of them were going to get anywhere if he continued to be distrustful and she was desperate for some sort of lead...

"...Is there anything I can do to prove that I hold no loyalties to the Academy? Working with each other would prove nothing but beneficial for the three of us." 

Kokichi had her completely wrapped around his finger. 

"Tell us everything you know. _Then_ , we can talk about some sort of mutual agreement..." Kokichi spoke as if Shuichi was on his side. 

Absolutely determined to gain his trust, Kyoko wasted no time to explain- 

"Before I entered the office, I heard that the Headmaster was upset with someone on the phone. Due to the room's soundproofing, I wasn't able to hear much, but I did hear mention the Steering Committee. If I were to wager a guess, I would say that he was likely talking to one of the Committee members. When I walked in, he immediately told them that he'd talk later and hung up. I noticed that he was going over some official school documents. When he quickly shuffled them away in his desk drawer, I was able to catch a brief glimpse of Tenko's school portrait. That file _has_ to contain pertinent information and knowing my father, that case file is likely still there."

The Steering Committee? Shuichi had never heard of them, though it probably wasn't the best time to interrupt...

"Go on..." Kokichi said, now intrigued. 

"Without prompting any questions, he told me that if I was there trying to find out what happened with Himiko and Tenko, I was to leave immediately. I insisted that I wasn't, but unfortunately he didn't believe me. Sending me away, he warned that if he caught me continuing to investigate this case, he was going to expel me immediately."

Yikes. Shuichi became fearful for Kyoko- She was really putting her neck out on the line being out here and doing this.

"I know it's not much to go on, but it's what I have to offer right now. Do we have a deal?" 

Kyoko extended her hand to Kokichi, but he deftly folded them away. The pot needed to be sweetened...

"Maybe we can make this relationship work. You _would_ be pretty useful for some parts of my plan... Buuuuuut..."

There had to be a catch.

"Shuichi and I will have to verify that what you've said is true first. Until then... you're going to stay handcuffed in Shuichi's closet." 

Shuichi couldn't believe what he just heard. 

"H-Hey! Don't say weird things like that! You're being a total creep right now!" Shuichi protested. There was no way he was going to let Kokichi get away with such an act...

"I accept these terms." 

In an act that shocked both boys, she actually said yes.

"W-wait a second-" Shuichi grew more flustered by the moment. 

Kokichi burst into hysterics. 

"AHAHAHAHAHA! Holy shit, you're an absolute madman! I've got you pegged all wrong! Don't worry Kyoko~, it shouldn't take us more than a day~!"

Kyoko Kirigiri began wondering if she had made a terrible mistake. 

\---

"Well then, you two have fun! Don't choke on each other's spit while sucking face, okay~?"

After things settled down, Shuichi finally had a chance to take a shower- All that mud and sweat was seriously getting gross. 

It was nice having a moment of quiet for the both of them. Spending an extended period of time with that boy was always emotionally taxing. That said, they both knew that nothing about this was meant to be relaxing. It didn't take long for the elephant in the room to rear its ugly trunk. 

"So... Um... I'm sorry this is happening." Shuichi timidly apologized, drying his hair with a towel. "I don't know why he's doing this."

Kyoko sat on the floor of his closet, her hands handcuffed behind her back with the very cuffs she always carried in her briefcase. To go a step further, Kokichi had leashed the cuffs to the closet rod so that she couldn't leave on her own. It was a struggle to look at his peer in such a state. Shuichi had tried talking her out of it, but she insisted that she follow through. Despite her now vulnerable state, she never seemed to lose her tenacious spirit. 

"It makes sense. He's ensuring that I won't talk to anybody by doing this. If this is what it takes to get him to believe me, then so be it." Kyoko remained steadfast in her decision. "Although... since I'm quite literally tied up, I have some favors I need to ask of you."

"Hm..? Yeah of course, what do you need?" Shuichi was eager to help, especially in this case.

"I need you to get those blood samples sequenced. You should send the hair clip as a known sample as well- Since she wore it everyday, I'm sure they'll find viable DNA. Don't use the Academy's forensics lab- I know one out of town that will do this work discreetly. The only downside is that we won't be able to get the results until Monday... but that's the price we pay for secrecy." 

Shuichi was more than willing to do this work for her, but he couldn't help but be curious... 

"Do you have doubts...?"

"...There's no such thing as being too certain." Kyoko answered, trying to find a comfortable position to rest. Even when he lined the closet with all the bedding he had, there wasn't really an easy way to lie down.

When Shuichi got to his bare mattress, all the things he did that night finally caught up with him. His overworked, bruised, and beaten body completely gave up. He laid there like a sack of bricks contemplating about what she said, not able to stop thinking about how crazy Kyoko was for agreeing to all this. To put so much on the line for the sake of potentially getting nothing in return… Was this what it meant to be an Ultimate Detective? 

"Is that why you're going through all this? What if he's lying about what he really knows?" He asked, questioning her risk assessment. 

She stayed silent for a moment. 

"Do you believe him, Shuichi?" 

"I'm... not sure. I think so?"

"You better be right then."

That was a legitimately difficult question to answer, but she had chosen to put her faith in him. Shuichi felt nervous that she would trust his judgement that much... Was that the reason why she was able to agree to his terms in the first place? It was just so much pressure to bear. He wondered if he somehow managed to fool her into thinking he was a greater person than he was... 

"Hey Shuichi..." 

She sounded serious.

"Yeah...?"

"I know this might feel hard to believe right now, but please listen to me. All the faculty you see everyday, including your teachers and the headmaster, want nothing more than to look out for us and protect us. If they were the ones in charge of things, none of this would be happening, but even they're scared of retaliation. They know what happens to those who speak out against those in charge. That's why you can't let them find out what you're doing." 

_The headmaster isn't in charge...?_

"From here on out, you need to watch your back. Kokichi's right in the fact that with circumstances like these, it's only a matter of time before there's another disappearance. We don't even know what happened with Tenko yet... You can't allow yourself to be the next victim. You can do this." 

What on earth was he getting into? It all seemed so unreal, like something out of a bad dream. He was just a teenager who worked part-time at his uncle's business, how did he end up wrapped up in some life-or-death conspiracy about cover-ups involving doppelgangers and giant robots...? He felt so out of place amidst Kokichi and Kyoko who seemed to deal with such unusual circumstances on a daily basis. Not to mention that _thing_ was following them yesterday… It could have been them who had been ‘expelled’.

A part of Shuichi wished that he never accepted the invitation to Hope's Peak, but it was too late for regrets. 

Himiko... Tenko... Two perfectly innocent students whose reputations were slandered to cover up an inconvenient truth for the Academy... It was fundamentally wrong. They deserved justice. If he had to be strong for anyone, it had to be for them. There were so many mysteries surrounding this case that had yet to be solved, but he was going to get to the bottom of this no matter what. 

"Alright. Thanks for believing in me."

Tomorrow was going to be a long day. He had no idea what Kokichi was planning, but it was not likely to be simple. It was best that they both got as much rest as possible. Even if this deal was primarily intended to be an exchange of information between Kokichi and Kyoko, he couldn’t help but wonder what on earth Kokichi actually witnessed… 

As Shuichi reached for his lamp, Kyoko spoke up one last time- "Oh, and one more thing."

"Hm?"

"...Can you make sure that it doesn't take too long for whatever he has planned to 'verify' my claims? This is not exactly... the most enjoyable experience."

“I'll try to do my best."

_click_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You made it again! Wow!!
> 
> Now I know some (a lot) of you might be screaming at your screen "WHY DIDN'T SHUICHI TELL KYOKO ABOUT THE NAIL?!?!" Don't worry, I didn't forget about it! Trust me! I actually ended up cutting this chapter short because I realized the next segment was going to need a lot of breathing space. 
> 
> The next two chapters are going to be pretty fun, so I hope you all look forward to it!


	5. A Plan That Not Even Shuichi Saihara Could Mess Up

It'd been at least 45 minutes since Kokichi told Shuichi it'd only take him 5 minutes for whatever business he had in the Hope's Peak Academy Maker Lab, leaving him cold and tired on a bench outside. 

It was such a pain- Shuichi yawned at the thought of how much more sleep he could have gotten if Kokichi hadn't insisted he left this early, though it wasn't as if being at his room would have fixed this problem either. 

The guilt of keeping Kyoko locked in his closet kept him up last night... Apparently a light sleeper, it was hard to ignore her presence as she constantly tossed and turned where she laid. Everytime it _seemed_ he could finally drift off, he would hear her sigh softly from her sleep... It made him nervous. He felt wrong having such thoughts, especially considering what she was going through. At least she was safe.. but that really didn't make it any better. 

Shuichi purged the thought from his mind, trying to turn to literally anything else. 

Reaching into his coat, Shuichi pulled out a modestly-sized notebook he had forgotten purchasing a few months ago until remembering about it last night. Peeling the price sticker off, he enjoyed how the faux-leather cover felt to the touch. He couldn't help but indulge himself by flipping the quality vellum pages over and over to enjoy that new book smell, only to stop when he noticed other students staring. It was far from the fanciest selection they had at the Academy's bookstore, but it was the one that seemed to call out to him the most. Maybe it was dumb, but with its classic look and sleek lines, it made Shuichi feel important. The world better have been ready for whatever Shuichi Saihara had to write in these pages-

"Oh hello Shuichi, I don't normally see you at this part of campus." 

He was so preoccupied with his notebook, he hadn't noticed Kiibo had walked up to him wearing a bright red scarf. Did robots even feel cold? It was probably inappropriate to ask...

"Kiibo! I, uh... didn't see you there. What are you up to? Probably looking to see Miu, huh?" Shuichi stumbled with his speech. It was true that he never spent time around the lab- in fact, the last time he was here was probably during the new campus tour. Did it look suspicious for him to be there? It probably did, didn't it?

Kiibo looked around to see if there was anything causing Shuichi to be so nervous...

"Well, yes. Every other Friday I come to Miu for a check-up. Considering my father lives far away, it's nice to have someone with the proficiency to do such work, although I wish her methods weren't as... hands on. But I digress. What are you doing here this early?" 

_Damn.... What do I say...?_

"I was hoping to see Miu, but apparently she's busy talking to Kokichi about something. If you have an appointment, I could always come back later." Shuichi felt it was pretty believable, only having to bend the truth slightly. 

"Kokichi? That's... unfortunate." Kiibo sighed. It looked like he was reliving terrible memories. "Though I suppose it would make sense that you would want to see her. That's usually the only reason most students have for visiting the Maker Lab..."

The Maker Lab first opened alongside the new school building with the hope that it would attract students from all grade levels to invest themselves into creating new inventions that would benefit all mankind. While this was true in the beginning, it was quickly commandeered by Miu Iruma who had basically made the lab her own. Spreading out her projects all throughout the lab, other students were either pushed away by the lack of physical space or, worse still, her less-than-stellar personality. After a few months, she practically started living there and the lab earned the nickname 'The Witch's Hut'. All sorts of rumors about the lab spread from how poorly kept the place was that part of Kirumi's practical exam was to clean it out, to rather nasty rumors about how Miu would 'compensate' her test subjects with sexual favors... Shuichi worried if Kiibo thought he was here for _that_. 

"Well, I guess I can't enter until... whatever they're doing is over." said Kiibo, sitting down next to Shuichi. 

It was so quiet outside, Shuichi could hear his hydraulic actuators decompressing as he sat. Sure Kiibo was a _robot_ , but he had never really thought about what that really meant. He was so human-like, it was easy to forget that he was actually made up of mechanical parts and functions... It got him thinking. Maybe this was his chance to get some info...

"Kiibo, do you ever feel... lonely on campus?" Shuichi wondered. 

"Hm? I have plenty of friends, including you I thought...! Unless... I-I'm not quite sure what you're getting at." The question confused Kiibo, now wondering if he had wrongfully interpreted the nature of his relationship with others. Were they... really not his friends? 

Kiibo slumped over in a funk. This was not what Shuichi had intended at all. 

"Oh! I mean, of course you're my friend! I didn't mean it like that, I was just wondering if you were the only robot here." Shuichi tried to reassure the poor robot, patting him on the back. 

"I see..." Kiibo regained his posture slightly. "I may be the only robot student, but I am most certainly not the only robot on campus. Most robots at Hope's Peak only have single functions like manufacturing items, not that there's anything wrong with that at all! The amount of functions a robot has doesn't correlate with their worth as a being!" 

It was endearing to see how Kiibo stood up for all robots, even the ones that couldn't even think for themselves to care. But that wasn't the info he was looking for... Perhaps a more direct approach was better. 

"So are there any other robots around that can move around like you can? Or are you the only one?" 

It took him a moment to think.

"I'd say so, yes. Most robots here are mounted arms used for research and considering my father was the last Ultimate Roboticist who attended this school, there hasn't been much of a push to create others like me on campus. _I_ certainly haven't seen any." Kiibo tried being as helpful as possible. "I had no idea you had such an interest about on-campus robotics, Shuichi! If I hear of any such projects I'll let you know!"

"Oh, well, you know... Thanks, Kiibo." Shuichi laughed nervously, taking notation of what he had told him. That robotic thing in the woods that caused that destruction… Not even Kiibo had seen anything like it. How was it possible that such a thing could exist?

Just as he finished writing down his observations, a commotion could be heard from within the lab as if an entire shelf of glass bottles was knocked over followed by unintelligible screaming. 

"Yeah yeah, okay you're welcome, GOD! Ungrateful wh- Oh hey Kee-boy, what's up?" 

Shuichi and Kiibo stared in horror as Kokichi wobbled out of the lab covered in some strangely colored liquids, bleeding profusely from a gash above his eyebrow and hands. Wiping the dripping blood out of his eyes, he only managed to smear his entire face red.

"What? S-somethin' on my face? Hehehe~"

There were no thoughts or second guesses. Within seconds, Shuichi found himself steadying the wounded boy, trying to staunch the bleeding with the sleeve of his jacket.

"H-Hey! What HAPPENED in there?! Are you okay?!" Shuichi spoke in a panic, the sight of blood making him slightly queasy.

Kokichi kept laughing as the two boys fussed over his external injuries, ignoring the fact that he was becoming lightheaded- "I-I'm fine, ha ha... I just tripped into a bunch of t-test tubes. That’s all... Maybe if that disgusting pig actually organized her shit, I-I wouldn't be such a sight right now..." 

No matter how much pressure Shuichi placed on his forehead, the bleeding didn't seem to stop. 

"Shuichi, what should I do? Should I alert the authorities?" Kiibo suggested, hoping to be of assistance.

_Shit!_

"Ah- I-I don't think that'll be necessary! Look, you go on and get your check-up with Miu, I'll take him to the nurse's office. He'll probably be fine, okay?" Shuichi said, thinking on his feet. "Come on Kokichi, let's go..."

Lifting Kokichi onto his back, Shuichi walked away from Kiibo as fast as his legs allowed him to. He didn't even wait for Kiibo to respond back, hoping he had just did as he was told. Now was not the time to get questioned by campus security, especially if Mr. Sakakura decided to get involved...

Dodging as many students as possible, Shuichi eventually found a quiet spot near the old building to reassess the damage. 

"Heeeey, maybe all that training isn't such a waste of time... You're less useless than I thought, Shuichi!" 

Shuichi rolled his eyes as he put Kokichi down. 

"Yeah, maybe someday I'll even save you from something you didn't inflict on yourself."

"Eh... I'll take it!"

It looked as though the bleeding had stopped for now. Despite first appearances, the wounds themselves weren't too serious- They were mostly clean, surface-level cuts consistent with cuts from glass shards. With how pale the boy was, Shuichi was surprised that he managed to keep from fainting. Kokichi was going to be okay, but for now he looked like a total mess- a problem for the mission to come. 

"Come on, Kokichi... You gotta stop and think about your well-being sometimes." Shuichi pulled out a wet nap from his bag and started wiping the blood off his face. "I'm not always gonna be here for you, you know?" 

"Pfft, you act as if I don't have an army of henchmen just waiting to assist me at the drop of a hat. Plus, it's not my fault Miu decided the best place for a bunch of test tubes was right where I was planning on walking." Kokichi kept making excuses as usual, actively moving his face into the towelette. Was he enjoying being cared for...? This was so embarrassing...

Shuichi quickly finished wiping his face off and bandaged the gash over his brow, handing the rest of the wipes and bandages to Kokichi to take care of his own hands- "Here, you don't need my help for this."

"Wow, you keep bandages in your bag too? Are you secretly a middle-aged mom or something?" 

The comment didn't even warrant a response.

Apparently ambidextrous, he deftly bandaged his own hands with ease. After doing so, without saying a word, he pulled his dirtied shirt off, disposing it next to him. Shuichi didn't even have a moment to prepare himself, instinctively turning away. 

"Ack! Hey, what are you doing? Warn me next time you do that!"

"What? We're both boys, the only person making this weird is you." His smile betrayed his disingenuous tone- it was pretty clear he knew what he was doing. "Anyways, can you hand me the extra shirt in the bag? You should probably ditch your jacket too while you're at it." 

Shuichi hadn't realized it at the time, but in the act of carrying him away, Kokichi had bled all over the back of his uniform... This was going to be difficult to explain to the laundry, but hey, at least his shirt managed to get away stain-free. Opening Kokichi's bag, he had expected to find all sorts of tools that would be useful for this mission, but instead it just contained a spare shirt. 

"...Were you really planning on breaking into the Headmaster's Office with just a shirt?" Shuichi was skeptical. 

"Nope. I wasn't planning on using anything in that bag at all. I just figured you might push me in the river again, so I came prepared." It didn't look like he was lying, though it was difficult to see how he was planning on pulling this off without any tools.

Handing the shirt to him, he couldn't help but stare at the long surgical scar hovering right above Kokichi's left pelvis, extending all the way to his flank. What on earth was this kid doing before Hope's Peak? He snatched the shirt from Shuichi's hands. As if he could read his mind, he explained- "I lost a bet early on in my career so they repossessed my kidney. Don't worry about the details, it's not important."

"..." 

"Anyways, let's get down to brass tacks, shall we?"

\---

"Your job is so easy, there's absolutely no way you could mess this up. Trust me!"

There was no way this plan was actually going to work.

Shuichi had been in the upper-level rec room pretending to understand how to play pool with Kokichi for the past half hour. His heart was beating a million times a second. 

"In five minutes, Miu is gonna flip that switch _for_ five minutes. All you gotta do is act natural while I'm gone. Sit down, read a magazine or whatever. If someone comes in, just look like you're here for a reason, but not like, a stealing top-secret document reason. Got it?" Kokichi spoke through his teeth to avoid his lips being read on camera like it was no big deal. "You suck at this game, I really ought to teach you how to play some time." 

_Gotta do this for Himiko and Tenko..._

The minutes diminished to seconds. 

The grasp around Shuichi’s pool cue grew stronger with his anxiety. He had to be strong, but there were so many questions. What if Miu decided not follow through? What if Headmaster Kirigiri was still in the office? What if the document was no longer there? He just needed to believe in Kokichi as much as he seemed to believe in himself. This was it. Just. Act. Natural.

_ding ding_

Kokichi's phone alert signaled the cue. 

Looking up at the camera, the red light had indeed gone out. Shuichi had no idea what Kokichi managed to say to her during that hour in the Lab, but Miu actually followed through! 

"Go!" He shouted, but Kokichi was already long gone.

Somehow in the seconds Shuichi looked up at the camera, he had gone from casually playing pool to prying open the vent and disappearing within its tight passageways. Nervous someone was going to suddenly burst in, Shuichi propped the vent door back up. It wasn't much, but most people wouldn't notice the difference. 

_He has to be the Ultimate Thief. What else could he be? Maybe the Ultimate Cat Burglar? Do they even get that specific...?_

A minute passed. If he didn't start doing something, he was going to go insane. 

Taking a seat and pulling out his notebook, he started furiously writing down everything that had happened so far. Everything from the hot springs to the claim of doppelgangers… The mysterious nail to the mechanical scarring of the trees... 

Three more minutes pass. Luckily no one had randomly walked in, but things were starting to get down to the wire...

"Where the hell is he?!" Shuichi muttered under his breath while tapping his feet furiously. 

"Calm down worrywart, I'm right here." As nimbly as he disappeared, Kokichi reappeared through the vent with a folder in his hands like magic. "It's the real deal." 

He fished out an official Academy envelope from the file and pulled out the letter within to reveal the first line of text- 

'In regards to the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Tenko Chabashira and now Himiko Yumeno...'

"Disappearance...? They don't know?" Shuichi was confused... But shouldn't the Academy have known what happened to them? 

"Yeah, I don't know. We don't _exactly_ have time to talk about this right now. Hurry up." Surprisingly serious, Kokichi shoved the letter back in the envelope and planted the entire folder into Shuichi's detective dossier. "We have thirty seconds."

The two boys proceeded to returned to the pool table where Kokichi had made quick work of scrambling the billiard balls to become a completely different arrangement. Shuichi took a deep breath. The baton was about to be handed off in mere moments. 

_ding ding_

Cameras were back on.

_clack clack clack clack..._

"YEAH! Did you see that? Looks like I win again!" Kokichi had arranged the table so he could easily sink all of his balls in one shot... Even in such a serious situation, he couldn't help himself. "Ah, well that was fun, but I gotta go now. See ya later, Shuichi!"

A wink and a smile later, Shuichi was on his own. 

_"Your job is so easy, there's absolutely no way you could mess this up. Trust me!"_

Resisting the urge to look at the cameras or peeking into the files, Shuichi walked out of the rec room and into the hallway. 

_Just breathe, Shuichi. All you have to do is walk back to your room. That's it._

Clinging the dossier close to his chest, he began to walk naturally down the first hallway. Then slightly faster down the first set of stairs. Then jogging down the second hallway. Then sprinting around the corner... 

_Dammit! Just relax already!_

Shuichi was so preoccupied in his thoughts he neglected to see...

_BAM!_

"AHH!" Shuichi slammed into him and fell on his ass. All the files he held spilled from his dossier onto the floor. 

"OOMF! Oh my god, Shuichi I'm so sorry!"

"Makoto, you gotta look where you're going! Here, Shuichi let me help you grab your things..."

Sayaka had tried to gather up the fallen files, but...

"Ah-! Erm... No, that's fine I-I can grab them myself!" Shuichi frantically grabbed the files from her hand and shuffled all the remaining documents back into the dossier, taking particular care insuring the letter Kokichi had shown him made its way back. His unreasonable overreaction garnered confused looks from the two A class students. "I-I'm sorry, they're very private case files. I hope you understand..."

"Oh, no worries! I totally understand, Kyoko is the same way. You detectives have some pretty serious work to do." Makoto Naegi, class rep for the A class, picked himself and his things off the floor before helping Shuichi up. He looked shorter than he remembered... 

But there was no time for that!

Fixing his hat and double-checking if he had everything, Shuichi tried to walk away- "Well it was nice seeing you guys, but I really should-"

"Oh wait! Makoto, don't you think he could help us?" Sayaka interjected before he could escape.

"Hey, yeah! That's a great idea!" Makoto's face was beaming. 

Shuichi had a bad feeling about this.

Pulled back into the interaction, this was when he realized Makoto and Sayaka were both holding... party supplies?

"So Shuichi, you gotta promise to keep this a secret..." His voice diminished to a whisper. "...But we're actually in the middle of planning a surprise party for Kyoko's birthday next week!" 

Oh god. 

"I... had no idea her birthday was coming up." 

All Shuichi could think about was where she was right now...

"Haha, yeah... She tries not letting anybody find out, but I did my research! She's gonna be so surprised!" Exclaimed Makoto. He looked so proud of his plan. 

_Surprise isn't necessarily a good thing, you know..._

"Hmmm... Oh, I know! Since you two work together a lot, you can guide her to the party. You can tell her you found a new study room!" Sayaka kept digging Shuichi's grave deeper...

"Yeah, that would work! That'd sound really natural too, she wouldn't suspect a thing!" ...And Makoto just rolled with it.

The two combined were a paragon of sickeningly sweet positivity. It wasn't like he could bring himself to say no...

"I guess I can help out." God knows Kyoko deserved a party. "...B-but I really gotta go right now. I'll text you guys later okay? Okay."

The detective shuffled off, his prize in tow. He could hear Makoto thank him from behind- "Alright, talk to you later!"

Too close for comfort. What if they saw something...? There was no way... 

Clearing the building and out into the courtyard, there wasn’t much standing in the way from succeeding his mission. Normally after school hours, students would spill out into the park area surrounding the building, but today, the area felt eerily empty. It was strange, but it was also difficult to tell if that was just his perception being warped from stress. He could have sworn he heard the sounds of sirens blaring in the distance- but he couldn't let that phase him as he made his way back to the dorms... 

\---

After fumbling with his keys for a minute, Shuichi burst through his door.

"Okay! Okay. I'm back. Oh my god, I'm finally back." Shuichi gasped for air.

"Maaaaan, Took you long enough! I was starting to think you messed it up somehow."

Kokichi had already made his way into the room, making himself at home on his bed while Kyoko had sat herself at his desk eating the meal Kokichi had brought her. He had apparently released her at this point after being satisfied with the agreement.

"You might want to check your phone. It's been going off all day." Kyoko massaged her sore wrists. 

"Huh?!" Shuichi did a touch check on his pockets. Geez, he really didn't have his phone with him the entire time!

Rushing to grab his phone from the charging cradle, his heart sank as he realized Kaede had been trying to get in contact with him since that morning. Between then and an hour ago, she had sent 15 texts and a couple of voicemails...

"Ah geez, this is really bad... It's Kaede..." Shuichi sighed. 

"What, is she in danger or something?"

"No... She's been asking me where I've been and asking if I wanted to go to Red Star with her... She must think I hate her..." He mumbled, typing out an apology text. Not only did he have one of the most stressful days in his life, he had to miss out on hanging out with Kaede...

"..."

Kokichi's eyes couldn't roll back further into his head if he tried.

"Ugh... She usually responds back by now... Kaede _hates_ me..."

It had only been a few seconds...

"I regret mentioning the phone. Do you have the documents or not?" Kyoko practically demanded them.

"I, um... Yeah, they're right here..." 

Shuichi, embarrassed by how he was behaving amidst a major investigation, put his phone away and got back to the heart of the matter. 

She snatched the file from his hands- "Yep. These are the ones I saw yesterday." 

Opening the file, the first couple of pages were in fact Tenko and Himiko's official school documents. Nothing seemed out of place about either of them besides the red 'EXPELLED' stamp until Kyoko noticed the text penned in on the last page of Tenko's document. 

'The Chabashira household has been notified. Reaching the settlement as per agreed to in the original contract, they should not be a problem.'

"I see, I see... So they're paying the family off to keep them quiet. Gross." Kokichi turned up his nose at the thought. It only made sense that they would try to silence the families, otherwise the lie about being sent home would have been long debunked by now. That was fairly obvious, but something about the phrasing of this sentence confused Kyoko.

"What contract? Only the students sign contracts during admission..."

Before she could answer her own question, she moved on to the next document: The Letter. 

"OOOOOO-! Yeah! That one! Pick that one! That one's a goodie, I promise!" Kokichi was getting giddy just by the mere sight. It certainly _looked_ promising. "That's the one that the Steering Committee sent the Headmaster!"

There was that group again... If the headmaster really wasn't in charge as Kyoko implied, it could have only been them.

Kyoko spared no moment in pulling out the letter and began reading it. The two boys drew close in anticipation to see what she had to say, being the one with the greatest understanding of the Academy's power structure. Surely this was exactly what was needed to crack the case wide open.

But instead...

As her eyes drew from one side of the page to another, reading line after line, her face grew bright red. Gasping slightly and nearly brought to tears, she brought her hand to her mouth in disbelief. Shuichi looked over at Kokichi, just as perplexed as he was. Something was wrong. What was she reading...?

"Is this some sort of joke to you guys?! Do I look like I'm laughing to you?!" 

"..."

"Uh... It wasn't structured like a joke last time I read it. Lemme see." Kokichi grabbed the letter out of her trembling hands. With a flourish, he straightened out the page and started reading the letter for himself. As with the person before him, his demeanor completely changed. Slowly lifting his widened gaze to his partner in crime, even he couldn't believe what just happened.

"Shuichi... What... did you _DO?_ "

...No way.

"Wait, what's wrong?! I made sure the same letter was with me the entire time!" Shuichi tried to recall anything that could have gone wrong, but he was absolutely certain he didn't make any mistakes. Instead of answering, Kokichi simply handed the letter over to him. The words on its pages... were not the same ones he had read before.

'Makoto Naegi,

Thank you for reaching out to me in regards to requesting my presence at my daughter's birthday party. Unfortunately, as much as it would mean the world for me to attend, I understand that Kyoko is not quite ready for me to be a part of her life again. It would be best for the both of us in this relationship to continue giving her space to heal from my past mistakes.

That said, I am so proud of how far she's come and it continues to fill me with great joy to know that she has friends at Hope's Peak Academy that love and care for her. This is what I've always believed Hope's Peak is about. You have my permission to use the spare library in the Old Building to hold the event. I hope you kids make a lot of memories together.

Sincerely,  
Jin Kirigiri  
Headmaster, Hope’s Peak Academy’

He grabbed the wrong envelope. Shuichi wished he could just crawl up into a ball and die. 

"...Sayaka has the real letter."

Kokichi grabbed Shuichi by the shirt, shaking him violently. "WHAT DID YOU DO?! I PURPOSEFULLY DESIGNED THIS PLAN TO BE FOOLPROOF!!"

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

The sound at the door startled the three. In the year and a half Shuichi had lived in this room, he'd never heard anyone pounding at that door as hard as it had been now, almost sounding as if with only a little more force the entire frame would get punched through.

"HEY- SHUICHI! PLEASE DUDE, OPEN UP!"

It was Kaito. He sounded desperate and scared... Kyoko grabbed the files and Kokichi by the collar and swiftly glided into the closet to listen in. Whatever it was, it was definitely urgent. Shuichi barely had to open the door a peek before he barreled his way through. Sweat was dripping from his brow like he had seen a ghost...

"Bro, where have you been all day?! Haven't you heard?"

"H-Hey...! Kaito, calm down! What's wrong?"

"I- You gotta go check it out, man! S-some paparazzi guy out there... Dude, this guy... He got freakin' BRUTALIZED right outside the school gates, man! The body got completely shot to pieces!"

...Shot… to pieces?

“Kaito please, just calm down and tell me what you know.” Shuichi tried reasoning with the man, but he refused to stop freaking out.

“I don’t know, Shuichi… I just… There were pictures of Kaede on his camera… He was taking pictures of her and now nobody knows where she is and now he’s fucking dead and still no one knows where she is!” 

Kaede.

No.

It couldn’t be true. It shouldn’t have been going this way. Shuichi refused to believe it. She had… just been texting him… Just an hour ago...

“You haven’t seen her have you? Please give me good news, Shuichi! Tell me you know where she is! You gotta know, man!” Kaito was shaking him by his shoulders, begging for him to say yes. 

Shuichi could no longer breathe. 

Within moments his mind went blank and then...

_THUD_

… all went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowie! Another day, another chapter! It's kind of incredible that past me thought that this chapter could have easily fit in the previous one, but here we are. Sorry it took me a little longer than usual, between Thanksgiving obligations and being kinda sick, it took me a bit to get going... 
> 
> Anyways, really hope Kaede's okay, don't you guys? Maybe we'll find out a little more about what happened next chapter... 
> 
> Until then, see you later, squid kids!


	6. Kaede's Big Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this took me a while to actually get started but once I did it was really friggin' fun to write. A nice change in pace! Enjoy~

"Okay. You can do this, Kaede."

Kaede Akamatsu had everything going for her: A loving family, lots of friends, fantastic grades, admission to the country's premiere high school, and most importantly, a talent that made everyone around her happy. She could do whatever she set her mind to... So why was she so nervous? 

Scrutinizing herself through the bathroom mirror, Kaede ran through her extra-special beauty routine. Fussing with blemishes she hadn't noticed the night before and deciding which shade of lip gloss she should go with, she felt like she was going crazy. 

"Oh my gosh, what are you doing?! You already know he likes you, why are you freaking out like this?" Kaede slapped her cheeks. "...Ugh I wish this shade of peach matched my uniform better..." 

She'd been working up to this day for so long now, it almost felt like a surreal dream. Kaede had been planning on asking him on his birthday earlier in the month, but he was constantly surrounded by people during party... Putting it off later and later, she realized she just needed to do it. It was now or never. Make it or break it.

"Ahhh! I'm gonna be late for homeroom!"

\---

"..."

Kaede stared off into her phone. 

_He must be studying with Kyoko again today... That's why he isn't answering..._

"Hey. What are you so down about?" Maki stood over the dour class rep. She was one of the few people that actually showed up today... "Is this about poor attendance? I don't think we were going to win that party anyways. We're never going to beat the B class in attendance records. You have to learn to cut your losses." 

Could she even bring herself to admit it?

"It's Shuichi. I was... really hoping he'd show up today." 

"...Oh, I see."

Kaede expected Maki to scoff at her troubles and walk off, but instead she ruffled her hair reassuringly.

"That idiot's probably off finding some housewife's cheating husband or something. He'll be back later."

That was true... But why couldn't he just be here right now? Normally Shuichi came to homeroom on Fridays. Why did he have to be gone the one Friday she mentally hyped herself up for? It was totally messing with her plans...

"Hmmmmfh... I guess you're right..."

\---

"Hey Shuichi, this is Kaede... Again... I just wanted to see if you're okay. Please call me back when you're free okay?" Kaede hung up, feeling dejected. 

It was after school was let out for the day and still no sign of him... This was well past the realm of normal. 

"Aw geez... this is pathetic. Am I coming off too strong...?" The thought suddenly invaded every last inch of her mind. "Oh god, he's probably freaked out by me constantly texting him!"

Kaede paced back and forth suddenly not knowing what to do. This was... supposed to be such a surefire thing. 

_What if... he doesn't even like me?_

"ARRRRRRRGH GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF KAEDE! LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" Kaede scolded herself. "He's just busy right now. Bad timing. No big deal. You just... need to get yourself some coffee. Yeah. Alright."

Time off campus was probably best for her anyways. No need to be stir crazy alongside being anxious about this. 

\---

"Miss? It's been two hours... I apologize, but I'm going to have to ask you to either order another drink or leave."

A server hovered over Kaede's despondent shell of what used to be a vibrant human being, still clinging to her phone out of desperation. Her cup was filled with cold, untouched coffee.

"...He still hasn't responded. I think he _hates_ me..."

"...Hm? Excuse me?"

"I'll... go. I'm sorry for taking up space..."

Getting up from her seat, Kaede made the walk of shame down the stairs and out the door... by herself...

Outside, the sun was slowly starting to set, casting a hue of gold over the entire cityscape. The way its glow filtered through the trees... It was beautiful.

_I wish Shuichi was here to enjoy this with me..._

As she began walking, a biting chill blew right through her- Damn, it was getting cold out here! Tucking herself into her scarf in response, she heard something go off in the near distance- 

_Click! Click Click!_

That telltale sound that most students loathed.

"Ugh... Not now..." Kaede searched around to see where the scummy freak was hiding. Surprisingly, he didn't particularly care to be hidden, standing directly across the thoroughfare.

The man, middle-aged and balding, shamelessly stared directly at her, camera still in hand. He was just... standing there. It was unnerving, but Kaede refused to let some weirdo walk over her. 

"H-Hey-! You! I didn't consent to being photographed! Delete that immediately!" She said, storming towards him. 

Completely unresponsive to her demands, Kaede tried snatching the camera from his hands to no avail. The man simply moved his camera away from her grasp and pushed her away. 

"Hey! What's your deal?! I said delete that photo you took of me-"

"You remind me of her." 

His voice was hollow- empty like if a corpse were to speak.

Kaede was taken aback. The paparazzi that swarmed the areas surrounding the Academy were usually weird, but this guy was on a whole new level. 

"I- erm... I-I don't care who I remind you of, you can't be taking my photo like that!" She kept trying to grab the camera to no success.

With one solid shove, the man pushed Kaede to the ground. Standing over her, he glared right through her soul. In this moment, Kaede realized she was in serious danger.

"You go to _that_ Academy, right? You don't have to answer. I've been watching you go in and out of there for the past year and a half." The man took one step closer to her. "You know what Hope's Peak Academy does to good little girls like you? They grind you up. Like a sausage."

Kaede needed to get out of here immediately. 

"L-Look... I um... I know plenty of alumni in person... and they definitely aren’t like ground meat at all..." She kept trying to scramble to her feet, but nerves were giving her spaghetti legs. Every movement she made backwards, he took one step even closer. "You can have those photos! Is that what you want? I don't care anymore! J-just leave me alone!"

"Kaede Akamatsu, I'm here to save you. All you need to do is come with me." He reached over and seized her arm **hard**. That was it. 

Kaede screamed bloody murder, causing passersby and store clerks to suddenly turn to see what was going on. The man, shocked by the sudden attention, let go, allowing her a chance to escape. Taking off through the streets towards the Academy, Kaede had realized that she was being tailed by the sinister man... Trying to lose him, she started taking back routes and side paths, but no matter what he always seemed to know where she was headed. 

"Kaede, don't you run on me!" His voice was growing ever more hostile. 

Not being particularly athletic, she was getting exhausted fast...

_No, no, no... Kaede, you have to keep running! Please keep running! I can't let this guy catch up..._

Taking all these side routes brought her to the walls bordering the Academy. Kaede was brought to tears. She had to climb this thing to get away from him, but she didn't know how much energy she had left... Seeing him turn the corner and spotting her, she knew she needed to just go for it.

Taking a bold leap with whatever strength she had left, she managed to grab hold of the top of the wall, but it wasn't fast enough. One strong yank of her leg brought Kaede tumbling to the ground. A sobbing mess at this point, she barely realized the pain her back was now in from the dull impact. 

"They took my daughter. Promised her everything. I never even got to see her body... Those fucking monsters... They tried to silence me, but I refuse to let them do it again. With you, I'll prove it. I'll prove it to the world!" 

"Please, stop! I don't know what you want, but just leave me alone!" Kaede pleaded to deaf ears.

The man simply pulled out a cloth from his pocket and began pouring a foul smelling liquid into it. "This is for your own good."

This was it. The end of Kaede Akamatsu.

_No! I refuse to die! Not today!_

With her second wind, Kaede swiftly kicked the man in the groin and took off eastward. His screams of agony were satisfying as she traced the perimeters of the wall.

_I just gotta make it to the creek. After that, I'll be able to make it across that bridge and just follow that path then make it to security. Everything's going to be okay._

Everything seemed to be going alright... She no longer saw the man following her and it had appeared that she was going to make it. Once Kaede got the bridge, the official sign she was on campus again, she felt safe enough to stop to catch her breath...

"Shuichi... I don't know where you are... or what you're doing..." Kaede sobbed into her phone, breathing laboriously. "But * _sniff_ * something seriously freaky happened to me outside campus... Please call me back... Please..." 

"You thought you could get away. Were you testing me?"

Stopping was a mistake.

The man managed to successfully scale the wall and met her on the campus side of the pedestrian bridge. 

"This was where she died. Stabbed. Right here on this very bridge. _They_ told everybody she ran away with that talentless son-of-a-bitch lowlife. Lies. Fucking lies."

Not even bothering to try to reason with the man, Kaede burst through past him into campus. 

"ARGH WAIT RIGHT THERE! STOP!" His voice trailed behind her. 

She didn't even care which direction she ran. She just needed to get away. Before she knew it, Kaede found herself surrounded by trees and thick plantation. The trails here were maintained, but kept as rustic as possible making it difficult to run. The farther she lost herself in these woods, the more she realized she was surrounded by a sound of intensifying mechanical whirring. 

_What the hell is that?_

Growing and growing, as it seemed like it couldn't get any more intense...

_VRRRRRRRRR-BRATATATATATAT-!_

The deafening sound burned Kaede's sensitive eardrums, forcing her to clasp her ears out of pain. 

"AH! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" She screamed, needing time to readjust herself. "I-I can't stop here!" 

As she kept running along the trail, it seemed the horrid sound seemed to fade. Not only that, as she looked up, she recognized a familiar student standing at the edge of the woods. 

"Oh, thank god!" Kaede thanked the sweet stars in heaven for this sweet relief. Finally making it up to her, she hugged her peer tightly. "Oh my god, you have no idea how happy I am to see you, Junko!"

Junko smiled from one side of her face to another. 

"On the contrary, my dear Kaede. You have no idea how happy I am to see _you_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :') oops
> 
> Nice short chapter today. How ya'll feeling? Okay? I sure hope so! 
> 
> On a side note, I'm considering writing a series of one-offs featuring what's going on with the lives of other students at different periods of time around the story. It'd be completely optional reading for this story, but may flesh out some of the things that've happened/will happen. I'm thinking of doing this because I'm starting to feel a little frustrated with not being able to tell the stories of other folks without it clogging up the narrative. I really don't want to put too much of a strain on myself either. I'm kinda on the fence on it, but we'll see. Starting next chapter we should be seeing more characters anyways, so I'll see how I feel after that.


	7. The White Room

Warmth. 

The familiar feeling of flannel pajamas close to his skin, cradling him to safety. 

Shuichi tugged the heavy quilt his grandmother had made for him over his shoulders, eyes glued to the page of his latest read- Murder on the Orient Express. Though October winds dragged oak branches against the panes of his bedroom window, he felt secure. It was warm in his bedroom. His _new_ bedroom. 

It had been nearly a month since Mom and Dad finally agreed to let him move into Grandpa's old study for his eighth birthday. After begging for what seemed like forever, it was inevitable that they would eventually relent. He practically lived in there with its impressive library of novels anyways, they figured they just make it official. 

Allowing him free access to whatever he wanted in the manor, Dad was ecstatic that Shuichi took an interest in literature. Before anyone knew it, the boy’s literacy far exceeded that of other kids his age.

'Someday, you're gonna be such a successful novelist!' He'd say. 

But Shuichi didn't care much for writing himself, he was more interested in the stories the books had to tell- Stories of daring swashbucklers and over-the-top moral allegories thinly disguised within stories about spacemen... Mom and Dad were always traveling overseas and the kids at school always picked on him, but when he dove into these fantastical worlds, the pain didn’t feel so bad.

_thump thump thump…_

Shuichi quickly turned off his lamp and hid under his covers. Footsteps in the hallway… At this time of night? 

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Saihara. I appreciate the time you've taken to allow me into your home at such a late hour. "

"It's not a problem at all. Are you here to perform a check-up...?"

That was Dad... Who was he talking to? 

"Not tonight, I just wanted to ask a few questions about your son."

"Of course."

They must have thought he was sleeping... 

Shuichi quietly crept out of bed and walked towards the hallway. His tiny footsteps were advantageous in keeping the wooden floors from creaking. Peeking through the crack in the door, he saw his parents talking with some black-suited individual. His face looked familiar, but he couldn't quite place it... 

"We're just curious about his intellectual development and general state of health. We understand that sometimes these things take time, but we're often concerned that some children may not be reaching benchmarks." 

Mother looked offended. 

"Excuse me, Shuichi is doing _quite_ well. He may have trouble making friends at school, but he's reading well beyond his grade level!"

"I see. We weren't doubting your son personally, it was more of a precautionary question." The man jotted something down on a notepad. "And his health? The first ten years of life are the most perilous for those taking this treatment. Any sign of muscle atrophy? Loss of feeling?"

"Erm... No. Not that we can tell. The doctor tells us he's physically doing better than ever. Shuichi seems to be growing up just fine..."

"That's great news. Thank you for answering honestly, that's all I needed to know." As the man finished up his notes, he looked up directly at Shuichi. His facade of monotony turned into one of explosive rage. "HEY, YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU LITTLE BRAT?!"

As he charged towards his bedroom door, Shuichi quickly slammed it shut and held it there. He expected some sort of fight for the door or a bang or _something_ , but it never came. 

Was he still there...?

Shuichi cracked the door open to take a peek, but instead of the familiar sight of his home's extravagantly decorated hallway, he found the hall was now completely white and barren. Neither the man or his parents could be found anywhere. 

"Hm."

Stepping out, he noticed that even without an apparent source of light, it was brightly lit here. It seemed as if the walls themselves were glowing. A subtle warmth emanated from the floor against his bare feet as he toured the new addition to his house. Nondescript doors lined the hall, each marked with nothing but a name.

'Kaito', 'Mahiru', 'Kazuichi'... The doors seemed to go on and on forever, each more tempting to open than the last. 

'Kyoko' 

"Oh! I wonder what's through here?"

He grabbed a hold of the door knob and yanked hard, but the door only seemed to open to a certain point- certainly not enough for himself to fit through. The room inside was too dark to see anyways... How annoying...

"Okay, what about this one?" 

Trying the next door labeled 'Taeko' yielded worse results. Not even a single budge... Shuichi wondered what was even the point of such a useless hallway when he started to hear music. He knew this song... It was one of her favorites to play for him: Erik Satie's Gymnopédie No 2.

Walking down the entire length of the hall, he stopped when he knew he found the right door.

'Kaede'

Shuichi gulped. Re-adjusting his suit and brushing the dust off his leather shoes to look presentable, he turned the knob he slowly pushed forward...

"Oh, there you are! I've been wondering where you've been all day, Shuichi."

There she was. 

Sat upon a stool in a pure white room, Kaede was wearing nothing but a plain hospital gown. The smile she bore could warm his heart a thousand times over. 

"Haha... Sorry, I forgot to bring my phone with me! I didn't mean to ignore your texts!" He closed the door behind him as he entered, taking a seat at a stool facing her eye-to-eye, "I think I forgot because I was so stressed this morning..."

"Heh... That's just like you. You oughta remember your phone next time, though I'm glad it was just that. I was beginning to think you _hated_ me!"

"Of course not! I was beginning to think that _you_ hated _me_!" 

The two laughed at the misunderstanding. 

"Though, I suppose that if you're here too... then you're also dead?" Kaede cocked her head to her side.

"Huh...? I mean... I don't think so. I'm pretty sure I'm alive." Shuichi felt his body for signs of life. Nothing seemed out of place, though now he felt a sadness creeping from within. "Kaede, you're not really dead are you? I'd feel so alone if you were gone..."

She puffed out her cheeks and thought on it. 

"Actually, I suppose I don't really know. I should stop jumping to conclusions so quickly. I just assumed that's what happened because this place seems very... death-like." Kaede looked around the sparse room where all exits had apparently vanished from existence.

"I see..." Shuichi sighed in relief, feeling some degree of hope. "What happened?"

"Um... I remember running through the woods when I heard a really loud noise. Like something you'd hear come from a from a giant monster flick... After that I was put on a long, cold table with bright lights shining in my eyes. I think people were standing over me? Sorry... My head feels really dizzy right now..." She struggled to recall as best she could.

"That's okay, don't push yourself too hard." 

Shuichi began hearing the sound of something dripping against the floor, finding that blood was beginning to pool below her seat. 

"Huh?! Kaede, are you okay?" Shuichi got up from his seat out of concern, but something intangible kept him from getting closer. 

"Hm?" She reached back to touch her nape and casually observed her bloodied fingers. "Oh, I thought this was normal. Has yours been bothering you?"

"...What?"

Kaede looked at the floor beneath Shuichi's feet where a small pool of his own blood had formed. Feeling the back of his own neck, it appeared that there had been a small wound puncturing deep into his spine. It felt like it could have easily been a fatal wound, but he didn't feel any pain from it. It was almost as if it had always been there.

"Oh, huh. Weird." Shuichi wiped off the excess blood on his pants. "I guess I just forgot..."

Kaede giggled at his gaffe. Geez... How embarrassing...

“Hey Kaede, you wouldn’t have seen Tenko or Himiko have you?” The thought suddenly occurred to Shuichi that he never simply asked.

Kaede went blank. Within moments her breathing became erratic, almost looking like she was flickering in and out of existence. 

“I-I… T-Tenko…? H-Himiko..? Wh-what are you trying to say Shuichi? There’s nothing wrong with them…. Why do you keep insisting on looking for them?! Why are you doing this?! YOU NEED TO STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!” She began to shriek, her posture growing uncomfortably stiff...

He couldn’t tell what he said wrong… Was there something on his face?

“What’s wrong, Kaede?” Shuichi extended his hand out of concern.

Just as it looked as her spine was about to snap from the tension, Kaede returned to how she was before.

"Oh hey, Shuichi! I'm sorry, it looks like they're calling me to go back now. We should definitely talk later, okay? Don't forget your cellphone next time!" She spouted as she quickly made her way to the door appearing on her side of the room...

"Wait, Kaede-! Don't leave just yet, I still have so many questions! I can't do this without you!" 

She smiled. "Hey, don't worry about me! I'll do everything I can on my end and I believe in you to do the same!"

Shuichi couldn't stop her from leaving him and slamming the door behind her as she did. Sprinting to the door and throwing the door open himself, he realized the entryway exited into an endless dark void.

"...Dammit." 

Having no other reason to stay, Shuichi walked back into the hall of doors. The air felt strange... Appearing dimmer than it had before, he couldn't help but feel a deep-seated melancholy fill his being. Kaede... It sounded like everything was alright with her, but was that really the case? Either way, he needed to keep moving. 

After trying a few more dud doors, he heard a creak a few rows down... A door had opened on its own.

“Finally a door that actually wo-”

'Kokichi'

Shuichi was hesitant... But whether it was whatever sense of pride he had as a detective or just plain human curiosity, he knew he had to investigate. 

Walking inside, the room appeared much the same as Kaede's. Just as bare, just as excessively bright, though the room's namesake was notably absent- The spot Kaede sat in her room was merely an empty stool here. Blood pooled at its legs, still warm to the touch. It mustn't have been too long since he had left.

The room, however, had one very noticable difference from Kaede's- The wall had been tunneled into, like a rotted wormhole bored into an apple. Serpentine and un-lit, Shuichi couldn't see where the malignant passageway led... but an unknowable force beckoned him to enter.

He took a deep breath. 

Just wide enough for his small frame, he worked his way through the winding path. Plumbing its murky depths, it grew darker and darker until he could no longer see. It wasn't long after that he ran into solid wood...

"Ack! Oh, um..." Shuichi, slightly disoriented, felt the object before him until he stumbled across a metal handle. "...Another door?" 

The door slid open quite easily, barely requiring any effort from Shuichi himself. The space, no larger than a broom closet, was just as bright as the room before him practically blinding the boy. When his eyes finally readjusted to the light, he found the space lined top to bottom with white porcelain tile, blood splattered all throughout. A deep crimson pool of blood lined the floor, the thick scent of copper filled the air. Sloshing about, a face surfaced from below, opening their bright blue eyes.

Shuichi stared down for a moment.

"Hello. Who are you?" He asked candidly.

The question shocked the figure, looking around as if this were some sort of prank.

"W-Wait! You can see me?! Holy shit!" The figure surfaced further, revealing her messy black hair and bare torso. "Who are you? What's your name? Tell me everything about you!"

The fact that she didn't answer his question annoyed him, but he WAS intruding in her space right now. It'd be rude if he didn't answer...

"I'm um... Shuichi Saihara. I'm a detective. I'm a second-year at Hope's Peak Academy. Nice to meet you."

She gasped.

"Oh my god, you're Shuichi?!? I... I kinda thought you were a girl... I mean based on the way he talked about you and all. Though now that I think about it, that name could only _really_ be a boy's name, huh? Heh… I guess I never thought of him being... erm... Anyways, that's not important! I'm so glad to meet you Shuichi!" She swayed excitedly where she floated. "It's been way too long since I've talked to, well, ANYBODY!"

"Haha... Yeah..." Shuichi laughed nervously. The creepy blood apparition knew who he was... Was that something to be concerned about? 

Her enthusiasm quickly faded.

"You look dazed... Are you even... Hm..." She pondered her next move, knowing whatever she did next was going to be critical. "Okay, Shuichi. So here's the deal. I really don't want you suddenly bolt on me, but I need you to know that you're currently dreaming."

_A... dream...?_

"Please don't wake up... I just really want to talk to someone lucid for once..."

Suddenly every weird thing that's happened to him started to make sense- The shifting geometry of the rooms around him, the constant changing of his own clothes and age... Even his wound, still dripping blood against the floor. 

"I... uh... Huh? I guess this could only be a dream..." Shuichi confirmed this status by thinking an apple into his hand before casting it away. 

“Wow, you’re pretty good at that. Not your first time lucid dreaming, huh? Guess it’s my lucky day.” 

"I used to have them a lot more as a kid… I have to say, I'm surprised that my own dream is trying to tell me that. Usually it's the other way around, isn't it?"

She scoffed at his claim that she was _his_ dream. 

"Actually Mr. Saihara, you are certainly dreaming, but you're not in your own mindscape. And I am NOT a dream, I am a human being like you... Well, kinda at least... Anyways, I'm not sure how you managed to get here, but boy howdy am I glad to talk to someone else for once!" She rambled about. It was clear she’d been pent up inside here for a long time...

She didn’t speak like a normal dream character… Almost as if she was actually cognizant? The notion by itself was farfetched, but moreso was her claim that he wasn’t even in his _own mind_. Did she mean…?

"Are you implying I'm in Kokichi dream...?" 

She nodded as fast as she could, but Shuichi was right be skeptical. This was just way too crazy to be true. 

"This whole scenario sounds just like a dream. Can you prove that you're not just some figment of my imagination?"

It only took a moment for her to think of something.

"I guess I can't confirm it here right now, but if I told you stuff about Kokichi that only he should know? When you wake up, you can ask him about it and then you'll know I've been telling the truth!" She suggested. It was surprisingly not a bad proposal... I mean, it couldn't have hurt... Plus, if she was telling the truth, this could be his chance to learn more about Kokichi.

"Erm... I suppose that works?" Shuichi was filled with anxious anticipation. What could she possibly tell him?

"Heheheh... Finally, my chance to get back at that little shit..." She proceeded to tell him Kokichi's secret, becoming animated as she told him the extra embarrassing bits. Shuichi couldn't help but laugh at the story.

"That's... surprisingly cute. But, wait... so you're another person who knows Kokichi? Are you dreaming too then?" Shuichi asked.

She grew quiet.

"I'm... no longer alive. I knew Kokichi growing up and for whatever reason when I died, I came here and I've been trapped here ever since..."

"..."

Knowing she messed up when she saw Shuichi's look of disbelief, she tried recovering-

"Look, Shuichi! I get it, you're a detective and you deal in truths and logic and this whole scenario doesn't make any sense at all! I know I can't prove that I'm telling the truth right now, but I need you to believe me! I'll tell you everything I know, please don't go!" She pleaded with all her might, looking so pathetic that Shuichi started to pity her... 

" O-okay. Tell me who you are and what your connection to Kokichi is and what you know about this place. Maybe we can figure out why you're here?" Shuichi tried his best to give her the benefit of the doubt.

She nodded.

" Okay. So growing up, I was very sickly. I was constantly spending time in a hospital bed recovering from illness after illness. Kokichi was the same. We shared hospital rooms, and well... When you're lonely you start to get to know your neighbor. You get that, right?"

"Yeah..."

That would explain his stunted height and complexion, though now Kokichi seemed as fit as he'd ever be. It was hard to imagine someone as swift and acrobatic as him being bedridden...

"Anyways, his parents were out of his life and his grandparents treated him like he was more of a burden than he was worth... so he began lashing out. Really badly too. He constantly snuck laxatives into the drinks of hospital staff, punched anyone who tried to bathe him... One time, he messed with the vitals monitor to display that he had died then burst out of bed when the doctor arrived to announce the time of death. I swear the guy practically had a heart attack. He always felt free to do whatever he wanted because he felt he had nothing to lose... No one in his life loved him and he honestly believed he was going to die anyways so there was no point in holding back." 

_Kokichi…_

"No one wanted to deal with him and I even heard rumors of nurses planning to quietly cut him off from his life-saving medication... I was so scared of them actually doing it, so I tried to step in... He may have been an asshole, but he was the only asshole who bothered to get to know me in the hospital. I thought that if I was the authority figure in his life, he'd straighten out."

"I hate to say this, but I don't think it worked..."

"No shit, Sherlock. I've known the kid longer than you have. Even though I mostly failed in re-adjusting him to society, we grew pretty close. I'd spin him tales that'd help allow him to forget the pain long enough to sleep at night and he'd come up with new games for us to play to pass the time. It's hard to imagine, but in a sense we relied on each other to keep each other alive in that lonely hellhole. Eventually, the two of us miraculously got better and no longer had to go back to the hospital." 

“You two just suddenly got better at the same time? That seems a little too convenient to be true…”

“Yeah, the doctors thought so too. I'd like to think we were cured because of our friendship... Corny, I know.”

"What happened then?" Shuichi asked, completely engrossed.

"Heh... Well, I sent a letter to his grandparents’ address and they responded back that he had run away and to never contact them again. Apparently they didn't try to stop him at all. It wasn't until a year later that he showed up in my bedroom and explained that he had been traveling the world. He wanted me to join the collective he had formed dedicated to combat the ills of the world with the power of chaos and mischief or something like that. Kokichi fancied himself a divine trickster akin to the likes of Loki or Puck. I feel like I'm to blame for that, telling him too many silly stories... I didn't believe him at first, but he showed me proof that he'd actually traveled to all these places doing all these different acts... The kid was ten at the time, I was dumbstruck!" 

So he really was the leader of some sort of organization? He said they were ten thousand strong, so where have they been this entire time while he attended Hope’s Peak? Then again, he _did_ say he was the leader of an _evil_ organization… Who knew if anything he told her was true or not.

"Did you accept his offer?"

"Haha, hell no, dude! I was flattered and glad he was using his superpowers for good for once, but I was busy starting my own projects at the time. We kept in touch for sure, but until I died I rarely saw him in person... And after that, I've been here listening to him project his inner thoughts while he sleeps. Or at least that's my assumption... It's the only thing that makes even a marginal lick of sense."

It was a wild tale for sure, but something was bothering Shuichi about this whole conversation...

"How do you know that you're dead?" He asked. "Is there some sort of definitive sign that you've passed? What if, assuming this is all true, you're just in some sort of coma?"

"There's no mistaking the feeling of dying. I've never felt anything else like it my entire life, even when I was close to death in the hospital. It's like... you get torn apart molecule by molecule, the despair of which consumes you whole. Absolutely unpleasant. 0/10. At least from my experience, there's no mistaking the feeling." She was dead serious. 

“I’m so sorry.” Shuichi apologized.

“Eh, there’s nothing anyone can do about it now.” She shrugged.

Sighing, Shuichi took a seat by the closet entrance looking over her. Slumping his shoulders, the apparition floated herself closer to to the boy.

“What’s up?”

“I just don’t get Kokichi. He constantly treats me an idiot and a failure, but he still insists that I spend time with him. Every time it seems I’ve finally made progress with him, it clicks back to square one… It feels like I’m always the butt of this joke he keeps playing and despite that I keep going back because some part of me thinks maybe he’s just a lonely kid or maybe even he’s somehow a good person deep inside? I don’t know why I keep doing it. I just… I don’t know what to do...” Shuichi spilled his heart out to the girl, nodding along as she listened.

“Sounds like he’s taken a liking to you.”

“Why would you think that?” Shuichi was puzzled.

“Because I was in your shoes once. Didn’t you just hear my story?” She swirled about freely like koi in a pond. “You have to learn to speak his language. Kokichi’s so afraid of losing the people he grows attached to, he pushes them away before he has that chance… But it doesn’t always work out that way. He has no idea how to express affection in a healthy way, so instead he’ll make your life a living hell so he’s always on your mind. I think deep down inside he desperately wants something that resembles a normal human relationship, but just can’t bring himself to do it.”

Weirdly enough, this everything about this explanation clicked with Shuichi, especially in conjunction with what he allegedly experienced in the past. Textbook attachment disorder, albeit taken to the extreme... 

“...But why would he like me?” 

“Well, I don’t really know you, but he liked me because apparently I told good stories that always kept him at the edge of his seat. Maybe he thinks you’re interesting? You’re not half bad looking either.” She said, smirking as she did.

“...What?”

What was _that_ supposed to mean?

“Heh… Don’t worry ‘bout it. Look. I know Kokichi’s an enigma and I haven’t really spent any quality time with him in a little over seven years, but if there’s still a bit of that boy I knew in him, you just gotta be patient with him. He’s playing mind games because he doesn’t know anything else, but you can win against them with persistence and kindness. Show that you’ve beat him at his own game and I almost guarantee he’ll open up.” She counseled, making it sound way easier than the monumental task it actually was. 

Was it even possible to win at Kokichi’s rigged games? It seemed impossible, but apparently she had succeeded at one point. Why couldn’t he?

“I mean, if you even want to. I wouldn’t blame you if he’s simply too much for you to handle.”

“Um, I’ll try. You really didn’t have to tell me all this, but I genuinely appreciate your advice.” Shuichi held both his hands over his heart in sincerity.

"You're welcome?" She was rendered shy by his gratitude. "I guess we Ultimates have to stick together, huh?"

"Huh? You're an Ultimate too...?" As he spoke, he could feel his body begin to feel light, growing translucent at the fingertips.

"Wait-! NO NO NO NO! Wait, not yet! I barely even got started talking to you! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE AGAIN!" She began to wail, breaking down into tears. 

Shuichi realized what was happening. He didn't have much time left here.

"I'm sorry! I can't seem to stop this from happening! I-I don't want to do this to you either!" 

Lunging forward with all her strength, she managed to break free of the pool's surface tension and grabbed at Shuichi's leg, but his form no longer had any physicality... It was no use... Her body grew limp and slipped back below the depths of the pool. 

As Shuichi faded away, he could hear her final plea-

"It’s too late for now, but don't forget I'm here! Please come back for me! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE FOREVER!’

.........

......

...

\---

"Nnnnggg..." 

"Hey man, you finally coming through?" 

Shuichi shifted about beneath a haphazard pile of pleasant-smelling blankets and sheets, slowly returning to life. He quickly realized that at some point someone had got him into own bed, though it felt warmer than usual... It was difficult to motivate himself to get up, but he knew it was for the best.

"Hmmmnnn- Kaito, issat you?" Shuichi mumbled, wiping his eyes to see that he'd been sitting directly next to him on the bed. Kaito was really, really close!

"Yeah. Gave you a pretty bad scare, huh? My bad." Kaito ruffled his hair a bit. 

"Uweh!" Shuichi shot up from where he laid, flustered. "H-hey! Isn't there anywhere else you could have sat?!"

Getting a good look at his room, it appeared Kaito, Kyoko, and Kokichi all stuck around as he slept. They were all just kind of loitering about his room like it was theirs. Freezing from Shuichi and his over-the-top outburst, they were staring directly at him.

"Uh... Sorry, man. I didn’t realize I was doing something wrong. I'll move." Kaito conceded before moving to stand by the closet.

"Oh, don't worry Kaito, it ain't your fault! Shuichi just gets veeeeery excited when guys who push him around are within arm's length. He just doesn't wanna poke you in the leg!" Kokichi mimicked his crude joke by jabbing Kaito with his thumb, causing him to recoil in horror.

"W-wait, is that really true Shuichi?! I mean... I have no problem with that of course! J-just let a guy know beforehand!"

"Are you really indulging him...?" Kyoko sighed in disbelief, continuing to pour over the incomplete set of documents for any clues she may have missed. 

Shuichi was certainly back in the real world.

Speaking of which... Remembering where he had just been, he rustled through his bag to grab his notebook. Writing down every last thing he could recall. It was imperative that he wrote everything down before his brain had flushed the memory down the drain. 

"You woke up at the just the right time, I had Kokichi pick up some dinner for-" Kyoko gawked at Shuichi's intense journaling session. "Are you dream journaling? That's... rather Victorian of you." 

"Wow, Shuichi! I had no idea you were into that kinda stuff! Are you gonna join the Paranormal Investigations club next?! You should tooootally bring me!" Kokichi tried to grab Shuichi's notebook, but he quickly clutched it close to his chest out of his reach. 

"Kokichi! Quit bugging Shuichi!" Kaito grabbed the boy by the shoulders and yanked him away, instigating a scuffle between the two.

"HEY! DON'T TOUCH ME, SPACE MAN!"

"ARGH! DID YOU JUST BITE ME?! WHY YOU LITTLE-"

"SHUT UP! FOR GOD'S SAKE, PLEASE JUST SHUT UP EVERYBODY!" Shuichi couldn't take it anymore. All these distractions were giving him a goddamn stomach ache... 

Kaito placed Kokichi back on the floor and the two quietly backed away from each other, avoiding eye contact. Shuichi's wrath shook them so hard, neither of them could even bring themselves to pipe up for an apology. Even Kyoko was rendered speechless.

"...Thanks." Shuichi grumbled before returning to his work. The awkward silence continued for a few minutes as he wrote everything the apparition told him... until it dawned on him.

_...This is crazy. What am I doing?_

The dream felt so real, but it was still just a dream. 

Shuichi sighed, furrowing his brow at what he had written. This must have been an emotional reaction to the all the craziness surrounding him the past couple days. He was experiencing so much stress, his brain had created some fantasy as some cheap self-defense mechanism. That was all.

"So... I noticed it's still light outside." Shuichi tossed his notebook aside. "How long was I out for?"

The three didn't know how to react. 

"It's less that it's still light outside so much as the sun went down and came back up again. It's Saturday afternoon now." Kyoko explained.

He'd been out for nearly an entire day... That would explain his sore back, but if there's anything he'd learned from the past week, so much could happen in such a timespan. Tossing his notebook to the side, Shuichi scooted himself to the edge of the bed. It was time to get caught up.

"So Kaito..." 

"Yeah, they filled me in on everything." Kaito chimed in. He seemed more reserved than usual, leaning against the wall. “I knew something was up with the Academy, but to think they’d try to push the blame on those poor girls…”

Kaito was certainly one of his best friends and trustworthy, but was it really a good idea to have him join the group?

"When you fainted, we couldn't just stay in the closet and do nothing, but our presence did require an explanation..." Kyoko explained, rolling her desk chair over to face everyone. 

With Kokichi ploping himself onto the floor, this had become a full-on conversational circle.

"I came up with a really good cover-up, but Kyoko was being a spoilsport..." He added, expressing himself using jazz hands.

"I see..." noted Shuichi, "And you all just have been waiting here for me to wake up?"

"While Kaito's been keeping an eye on you, Kokichi and I have been in and out of the room quite a bit. It's good to have a central meeting place." Kyoko explained.

Shuichi didn't know how to feel about his friends choosing to use his room as a base of operations. Flattered? Annoyed? Whatever it was, it was too late to have a say.

She continued- "When I heard the news about Kaede, I rushed to the girl's dormitory to try to see if I could find anything in her room, but the faculty had beat me to the chase and were in the process of packing everything up. Unfortunately, I believe whatever happened to Himiko and Tenko has claimed Kaede as the next victim... I'm sorry Shuichi."

It was as he feared... 

"It's... alright." Shuichi knew he was lying, but he couldn't let that burden himself right now. "What's the Academy's official story?"

"'Extended Vacation'. For the record, I've actually heard rumors in the past that this excuse is used to cover up runaways. Very few of these 'vacationing' students ever return." She recalled, "I'd imagine they couldn't just say the class rep was expelled like Tenko and Himiko, especially since using that excuse twice in one day has already warranted rumors and suspicion. To be honest, I'm rather curious how they plan to deal with the complication of the mutilated corpse on the Academy's front steps."

Kaito looked visibly upset. What was old hat to the rest of the group was heartbreaking news to him. 

"Yeesh... I never realized that Hope's Peak was this corrupt... Has it always been this way?"

Kokichi burst out laughing at his naivete, but even someone like Kaito could see the disconcerted look in his eyes. The reality of the situation meant that the lives of all four students were in the hands of an organization that could purge their entire existence from the public record if they so choose. 

"Hard to say... I've always heard stories circulating around detective circles around Hope's Peak Academy. Some rumors are always bound to be baseless gossip, but it's apparently been getting worse in the past couple of years."

"UGGGGHHHH... Yeah, we know. Can't trust the Academy. Is that _all_ you talk about?"

_Weren’t you just suspecting a few days ago that Kyoko was working for the Academy…?_

Kokichi got up and dove into the pile of sheets on the bed. Getting nice and cozy with the comforter around his shoulders, Kokichi made sure that everyone was looking at _him_ now. "By the by, I've been sneaking Kyoko in and out of here all day, and I gotta say... Security's been reaaaal light around the boy's dorms and extra spicy over on the girl's side recently. Anyone noticed that? Just pointing it out."

Kyoko's change in expression was enough to corroborate his claim. It was clear to see what he was trying to imply... 

"You're suggesting that they're targeting girls?", questioned Shuichi.

"I'm saying maaaybe we should kick this investigation into higher gear before we get another victim to chart out a pattern... But yes, I'm saying they're _probably_ targeting girls. Good thing we all have dicks, isn't that right Kyoko? Oh wait..." Kokichi said with a glowing smile. 

"..."

"Look Kyoko, I don't actually know you that well, but if I'm right, I'm sure if anyone even _tried_ something, you’ll totally kick their ass. You just look like that kind of gal." Kaito gave one of his signature upbeat pep-talks and even attempted to pat her on the back, but Kyoko quietly rolled out of the way. 

It was clear that Kyoko had already made the connection that Kokichi not-so-subtly hinted towards and by throwing herself into the case, she was putting herself at an even greater risk. With a third victim, the disappearances were unlikely to stop now... 

"...Kyoko, are you okay?" 

Ignoring Shuichi, Kyoko picked up the take-out bag beside her. 

"Let's... get dinner set up." 

\---

The four Ultimates sat wherever they could on the floor Shuichi's small dorm room, unpacking their meals. Like on their study days, Kyoko footed the bill for the meal despite protests from Kaito who insisted on chipping in. It wasn't until she disclosed the hefty amount she made on her latest commision and compared that to his lack of a paying job that he finally relented. Surprisingly, she trusted Kokichi with the decision on what to purchase and perhaps even more surprisingly, he actually made a decent decision- Chinese. 

"Thanks a bunch for dinner you guys, I know I stumbled into this whole thing on accident, but I appreciate the gesture." Kaito clapped his hands together in thanks. 

"It's nothing. Really." Kyoko spoke absentmindedly, concentrating her efforts on picking through her mabo tofu. "...What kind of monster puts _cilantro_ in this dish...?"

"Hey, turn on the news. I bet we'll catch what's up with that dead guy." Kokichi said, shoveling the greasy food in his mouth.

Shuichi complied, though currently it was just the weather. He would have been kidding himself if he said he wasn't disappointed.

"So Kaito, how did you find out about... that guy?", asked Shuichi.

Kaito gave a deep sigh before explaining- "I saw him with my own two eyes on my way back to the dorms. I didn't discover him, but the police hadn't arrived yet so I was probably among the first. I'd never seen so much blood in my entire life! I tried not to look, but I think I saw parts of his body was smoldering... That nurse girl from the B class tried to revive him, but he was long gone by then. Look, there's certain things a man should never have to see in a just world and that was definitely one of them. I don't think any of the students who witnessed that will be okay ever again..."

Kyoko kept silent.

"After that, I ran into Maki and Aoi. Apparently they had heard from other girls at Red Star that the guy had been harassing Kaede and taking her photos before suddenly attacking her."

"Wait, what?!" Shuichi blurted out, "What happened?! Did anyone try to stop him?"

Kaito shook his head. 

"Bunch of cowards, I know. Apparently that's what they called Aoi and Maki for. The guy had a reputation in the area for being aggressive to girls attending Hope's Peak and everyone was afraid of him. By the time they got there, both of them had taken off. No one's seen or heard from her since and... I guess you guys think something happened to her after that." 

_Kaede... What happened to you?_

"You guys, shut up! The story's on!" Kokichi snatched the remote from Shuichi's hand and turned up the volume.

"-And now we return to a developing story from the recent homicide committed outside the world-renowned Hope's Peak Academy. The police have released a statement confirming that the deceased has been identified as 54-year old former businessman Iwao Chiba. Reports reveal that Iwao Chiba had been known in the area as a mentally-unstable vagrant for several years after becoming estranged from his wife."

"Well that figures. Oh Mr. Chiba... a careless idiot to the end." 

Everyone turned to face Kokichi. 

"Kokichi, do _you_ know that guy?" Shuichi questioned him.

"Oh, Mr. Chiba? The wacko homeless guy who lives in the tent down-river from campus? Yeah! Or I guess _lived_ in a tent down-river from campus now." Kokichi prattled about, "I used to play games with him all the time! Maaan... If all he wanted was pictures of Kaede I could have gotten him several without him having to get shot to swiss cheese."

The complete lack of respect Kokichi held towards the sanctity of life disturbed Shuichi... Was this some sort of front, or was this just the kind of person he was? It was genuinely difficult to tell...

"What the hell, man! The guy died!" Kaito scolded him, but Kokichi paid no mind to it.

"Shhhhh-! It's still going!"

"-We've reached out to Mrs. Chiba for an interview, but she has not returned back for comment. We'll return to this story as more developments surface."

"BWAHAHAHAHA! Still a spineless worm, I see!" Kokichi made a big show of slapping his knees as hard as he could. It was clear to everybody he was showboating the knowledge he had that the others did not. 

Kyoko, who had remained silent up until this point, had enough of his game.

"Kokichi, how do you know about Mitsuko Chiba?"

The name felt familiar to Shuichi... Where had he heard it from?

"...Huh? Who? I don't know who you're talking about." Kokichi shrugged her off, mocking her with a short chortle. Leaning back with his both his hands behind his head, he couldn't even dignify her question with a glance back.

In a flash of the eye, a blur of lavender tackling Kokichi. Shuichi watched in awe and terror as within seconds Kyoko had pinned the boy chest-down beneath her and was in the process of binding his arms with the ribbon she characteristically wore in her hair. The way she moved was so methodical and effortless- it was evident that she knew exactly what she was doing.

“Kyoko! Y-you don’t need to go this far!” Shuichi reached out to intervene, but Kaito held him back.

"Oh my, Miss Kirigiri... Nnngghh.. Your clan's not usually known for such rough conduct... So full of surprises recently aren't you?" Kokichi writhed beneath the Ultimate Detective, feigning nonchalance. 

"We made a deal. We were going to work on this case together and that means the free exchange of information. I don't know who you think I am, but you are _far_ from the most difficult interrogatee I've experienced. Now, you're going to tell me what you know like you promised, or _you're_ the one that's going to stay in that godforsaken closet for a WEEK." Kyoko grabbed his hair close to the scalp as a clear threat. "What do you know about Mitsuko Chiba?"

"Well, I know the name from the same document you read it from, obviously- OOOF! OWWWWIE, STOP IT! E-easy on the hands will ya? T-they’re still tender..." 

"You know this doesn't have to be difficult." She spoke firmly, twisting her grip harder.

"Nnngggh… Fine! You win, _Mistress_. I’ll tell you bullies everything…” 

Shuichi suddenly felt really weird… He quickly pulled his knees up to his chest, clenching his legs tight. Why did this have to be happening to him now of all times...?

“I did a little digging into the Academy before I accepted the invitation to see what kind of shady shit they had cooped up, unlike _some_ people I know." Kokichi stared directly at Kaito.

"I know that you know that no matter how much Hope's Peak tries to cover things up, certain juicy bits of info always seem to slip through the cracks into the Underground. And well, as you all should know by now, I am the Ultimate Supreme Leader of the Underground."

Citation needed.

"The murder of little Miss Chiba is perhaps among the most well-known in the black market of information. Stabbed 15 times in the neck, chest, and abdomen, the case was a turning point for Hope's Peak Academy in more ways than one... Like it's implied in the document, Mitsuko was the first student murdered on campus. Now, she had complained to security on multiple occasions that her shithead of an ex had been stalking and threatening her for weeks. She begged them to do something about it and they did jack shit. What would Hope's Peak Academy do if the public found out they had basically allowed some rando to wander on campus and kill one of ~Japan's national treasures~? So they came up with some stupid excuse about how she actually got back together with that guy and ran off."

That's right! This was the student he was told him about under the bridge a few days prior... on the night they discovered _that_ scene... Kokichi had already made the connection between the expulsions and Mitsuko and he was trying to warn him, but why did he suddenly swerve the conversation in another direction? Did he change his mind? In fact, Kokichi had been acting really strange that entire day, almost like he was anticipating the entire thing to happen...

"So what does this have to do with Tenko and Himiko's disappearance?" pried Shuichi.

"Excuse me Shuichi, you're not the one interrogating me right now! I only take questions from Mistress." 

In this moment, Kyoko regretted her entire life. 

"...Just answer his question."

"Yes, Miss~! So when I dug a bit further, I had begun hearing nasty rumors... Apparently some whistleblower who used to work for Hope's Peak tried to reveal how the Academy had taken her body and performed some unethical experiments with it... The guy and the journalist who worked with him got 'disposed' of before they could break the story, so no one really knows what exactly the Academy was up to. Oh by the way Kyoko, all this and more gets brought up in that letter Shuichi lost, but I honestly can't remember what the connection was. I was only able to briefly skim the contents during the minute I had to retrieve it."

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Kyoko exhaled a long disappointed sigh. Caught up in everything, Shuichi had forgotten his horrible blunder the day before... Thoughts flooded his mind of how much he had let her down and how furious she must had to have been at him, but instead of yelling at him, she stewed in her own frustration. Letting go his hair, Kokichi's forehead fell to the floor with a thump. 

"Did I do good job? Are you gonna let me go now or do I have to kiss your feet first?"

Ignoring his goading, Kyoko united Kokichi who quickly began reapplying the bandaids she had loosened during the struggle.

"For the record, every last one of you boys are disgusting and need to get a grip." She said, making sure to look everyone directly in the eyes as she did.

_She noticed... Again..._

"W-Woah there, I-I have NO idea what you're talking about!" Kaito deflected her accusation poorly, face fully flushed. Shuichi was so focused on Kokichi and Kyoko, he didn't notice Kaito had been... _ahem_... struggling as well.

Jesus, this was awkward. Shuichi need to clear the air somehow...

"So, um... What do we do now? If Kaede's really gone, we need to hurry and find out what happened to her, even if she's..." Shuichi couldn't bring himself to say it. Simply mentioning her name caused all the painful emotions he had been repressing to rush through. It almost felt as if the universe took her away as punishment for being a complete failure in helping Tenko and Himiko. Feeling the heartache build pressure in his chest, it forced him to well up...

Kyoko placed her hand on his shoulder. Gently steadying him, she gave him that familiar consolatory look.

"You said Sayaka had the letter?"

Shuichi nodded, shedding a tear. 

Turning to make sure only Shuichi could see her, Kyoko mouthed- 'Everything's going to be okay.' After handing him a handkerchief, she returned to the other boys and started to issue commands.

"Kokichi, this should be a cinch for the likes of you. You have until Monday."

"Aye aye, Captain!" Kokichi gave a salute, immediately pulling out his phone out and typing like a madman.

"Kaito, I need you to gather as much information you can from anyone who witnessed Mr. Chiba before and after he was found dead. Try to focus on what he could have wanted from Kaede, but be discreet about it. I know it'll be hard, but don't tell anyone what you've heard here, even if you trust them. The more people who know about this, the less safe we’ll be. We're already pushing our luck with four people."

"Got it. I was actually trained for this kinda stuff at boot camp, so I'll be more helpful than you guys think! Anything to help out my classmates!" 

Shuichi stared into the handkerchief, now wet with tears. He prepared himself for his turn to receive a task, but Kyoko did no such thing. 

"So Shuichi, what should we do next? This is your investigation, after all."

The question caught him off guard.

"Oh... Erm..." Shuichi wiped his nose with his sleeve and pulled himself up. He thought back at the entire case up until this point, trying to think of any gaps. "Kokichi, did any of those documents mention anything along the lines of a giant robot or doppelgangers?"

Just saying it out loud sounded stupid.

"Nope!" Kokichi chirped, eyes still glued to his phone, typing with his right hand and fiddling with something else in his pocket with his left. 

"Hmm... That's definitely something we should look into further." Shuichi stroked his chin.

"I agree, though I'm starting to worry about the increase in security around campus... I tried to take another look at the clearing in the arboretum, but now there's staff roaming the area. It's going to be difficult to investigate anything without raising suspicion..." Kyoko thought aloud.

A tricky situation to be in... Headmaster Kirigiri warned that getting caught investigating this would warrant expulsion...

"Ah! That's it! The Paranormal Investigations club!" Shuichi exclaimed. 

The three of them looked at each other, wondering if the stress finally pushed Shuichi off the deep end.

"Uh... Shuichi, that was just a joke." Kokichi said flatly.

Shuichi realized this was gonna be a tougher sell than he expected...

"No, see... If we joined them, we could disguise our investigation as a club activity! We could say we're just looking for ghosts! Plus, I bet the students in that club are constantly on the lookout for anything weird happening on campus, so we'd be expanding our eyes and ears without disclosing what we're actually doing." He attempted to rationalize his bizarre plan to an unenthused audience. 

"...Yasuhiro's the president of that club." Kyoko grumbled.

"I, erm... Okay? So? Is that a problem?"

Was there something wrong with Yasuhiro...? He never really interacted with the A class boy. The tone of her voice suggested that this was going to be a huge problem... Instead of answering, Kyoko skipped directly to the point.

"Shuichi, I'm going to be completely honest right now. I **hate** this plan... But right now, we may have no choice..." She said, folding her arms in resignation.

Well, that was one party member.

"How about you two?" Shuichi hoped Kyoko's agreement to participate would butter up the others, but to no avail. 

"Can't." Kokichi finished what he was doing and tucked his phone away. "Shortly after orientation, I wanted to see if I could get banned from every single club at Hope's Peak and I succeeded in less than a month. Oops."

Shuichi was actually impressed, but this was decidedly unhelpful... Maybe his best bro Kaito would be a little more supportive?

"I'd... rather not..." Kaito looked rather pale. It wasn't until now that he remembered his extreme aversion to the occult... Best not force him into this kind of stuff.

"So I guess that means it's just you and me." Kyoko sighed, looking up schedules on her phone. "The next club meeting is on Monday. May whatever being watching over us right now have mercy on our souls." 

Kokichi perked up. 

“Wait, so does that means you’re free tomorrow, Shuichi?! 

Oh no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, you're still around? Congrats for making it this far! 
> 
> Hoo boy this took me a while. Sorry for the wait. Every single scene in the original outline ended up being three times as longer than I expected... Considered breaking it into two chapters for a bit, but I couldn't find a place that made me happy to do it. 
> 
> This is the chapter I've been the most excited and intimidated to write from the beginning. It's kind of amazing that we're here from chapter one, huh? I completely understand if this is getting a bit too weird for some of you guys, but I'm curious to see where you guys are all at. Theories? Thoughts on pacing? Questions? Also, please let me know how I'm doing on the intensity scale. All this will be super helpful to know. 
> 
> Oh, and if you guys have particular characters you want to see in the story, lemme know about that as well. I'll try to see what I can do... 
> 
> Thank and see ya'll later, squidos!


	8. Ultimate Extracurricular Arts and Craft Circle Featuring Guest Star Shuichi Saihara

_Shhhhh-k_

"Good morning everybody, I brought drinks."

"Oh hey! I'm so glad you could make it!" Sayaka smiled and waved in that manner that all the girls on television did- A true public figure indeed. 

The meeting spot, the 78-b classroom, had been rearranged so all the desks were pushed to the back, making room for a large circular table in the center. Craft supplies and snacks were scattered across the table with several projects already in progress. To Shuichi's surprise, a healthy amount of people showed up today. Alongside Sayaka were Miss Yukizome, Junko, Chiaki, and even that reserve course boy that always hung out with the B class. 

"Come on silly, take a seat!" Sayaka motioned towards the empty chair beside her. 

"Erm... Yeah, alright." 

Shuichi nervously took a seat, placing the plastic bag full of bottles in the middle of the table. Settling in, a tap on the shoulder caused him to seize up.

"Hey. I know I've seen you around, but I don't think we've been properly introduced to each other." He extended his hand. "Hajime Hinata. You're Shuichi Saihara, right? The other Ultimate Detective? Nice to meet you. I’m glad I’m not the only boy here, haha..."

Jeez...Even the reserve course students viewed him as the _other_ Ultimate Detective... 

"Uh- Nice to meet you too, Hajime." Shuichi shook his hand. "You know, I thought reserve course students weren't allowed in the main building."

Everyone stared at Shuichi. 

"Is this... a problem? Because I can go if it makes you feel uncomfortable." Hajime responded. Chiaki, refusing to let him leave, squeezed his hand and shook her head.

_Shit... That came out way worse than I thought..._

"I-I didn't mean it like that! I was just surprised! Personally I think the rule's ridiculous myself." Shuichi backpedaled hard. 

Junko began to laugh.

"Shuichi, you crazy? If they let any common into the building, it'd be like, a total shitshow." She said while stringing together a series of foil stars.

Hajime sunk further into his chair. 

"Ugh, I didn't mean you, jackass. You're actually cool, unlike your pathetic loser classmat-"

"Junko, that's enough." Miss Yukizome hushed the classless girl. "Hajime has permission to be here from the Headmaster during off-school hours as long as a teacher like me is here to chaperone. It'd be unfair to Chiaki if all the other girls could bring their beaus to school events but not her, wouldn't it?" 

The couple blushed fervorously at her words, prompting a giggle from Sayaka.

So it was true then... Chiaki WAS dating him. Shuichi had heard gossip around campus about the controversial relationship between the class rep and a reserve course boy, but chose not to pay it much mind. Strangely enough, he recalled during orientation that the two courses were strictly prohibited from dating each other... Did they walk back on that policy? He'd seen this kid at various school events, remembering that Kokichi had been 'hired' to sneak him in. At what point was he allowed to be on Main Course grounds officially? Maybe he shouldn't pry too much...

"Well, I'm glad to meet you, Hajime! I hope you forgive my poor choice of words... Um- What do you prefer? Lemon soda, green tea...?" Shuichi rustled through the plastic bag to see what Kokichi had actually gotten for him to hand out. 

"Oh, it's no problem at all. Green tea’s fine, thanks." 

As soon as Hajime took the first sip, all the others felt comfortable to grab their own. With the conflict resolved, Shuichi leaned back in his seat to catch a breath. Feeling a buzz in his pocket, he scooted back to check the update from Kokichi.

'WTF i'm checking the box its not here u lied'

...What? It had to have been there... 

'Check harder'

Weak response, but what else could he say? If she didn't have it, who did?

...

"Hey Sayaka, I don't mean to pry, but I thought Makoto was gonna be here today. Is he okay?" Shuichi asked the idol. It felt weird that he wouldn't be here especially on a day like this. The two were such good friends and it seemed like they were never apart. 

"Oh, Makoto's just running a bit late. He should be here at any moment." She said, gluing together a paper chain. 

_Shhhhh-k_

"Hey, speak of the devil... Oh!" Sayaka exclaimed in surprise.

Sliding the door open stood the aforementioned Makoto Naegi, dripping wet.

"...G-good morning, you g-guys. S-sorry I'm late..." He said, shivering like a tiny dog. 

Makoto dragged himself to one of the empty chairs where he promptly slumped over. Despite the enthusiasm from the other students to see him, Shuichi couldn't help but notice Junko grimace, if only for just a moment. Ironically, he _did_ have a bit of a reputation for bad luck. All the so-called ‘lucky’ students did. Most of these lottery students were pariahs within their own classes for this reason, but Makoto somehow transcended that. Despite his constant ill fortunes, he always maintained an infectious positivity that people could hardly resist. 

Shuichi wished he didn’t feel jealous.

"Makoto, you alright?" Chiaki asked, always concerned about the welfare of other students. 

He took a moment to regain his composure before sitting up and scratching his head. 

"Haha about that... I-I accidentally fell into the f-fountain out front trying to take a shortcut. I sprained m-my ankle... So it took me a bit to get up here..." Makoto said, still shivering like crazy.

"Hey man, do you need a towel? I was gonna go for a swim after this, but you clearly need this more than me..." Hajime offered, shuffling through his duffle bag.

"T-thanks..."

In that brief moment, Shuichi caught a glimpse of something strikingly familiar to him in the bag: An official school envelope. The same used by the official letter they had lost as well as the same used for the birthday permission slip... If it hadn't been labled 'IKP PARTIC. NO.6', he would have easily been mistaken that Hajime somehow ended up with his letter. In fact, if his mind wasn't so consumed with trying to get that letter back, Shuichi probably wouldn't have paid much attention at all. 

_Stop snooping through other people's things, you nosy prick..._

Stuffing the thought into the back of his mind, Shuichi got back to work trying to properly glue together his paper chains.

"So Shuichi, I heard Kaede's on vacation. Such a shame... I heard she was traumatized after the incident at the front gate. I already miss her a lot..." Sayaka's words stung like a wasp. "You two were rather close... Has she contacted you about her experience?"

Shuichi could feel his chest seize up.

"Yeah. She called me this morning. Kaede's fine... She just needs some time to recover."

It was a blatant lie, but no one should have been the wiser. That is except for...

Subtly glancing over at Miss Yukizome, Shuichi could see her freeze. If no one was paying attention, they wouldn't have noticed the bead of sweat developing on her brow. It was obvious. She totally knew. 

"It's a shame too. We were gonna hang out tomorrow." 

Junko's voice caught him off guard. Shuichi realized she had been staring directly at him, turning away as their eyes locked. He had no idea why, but her gaze always unnerved him... Maybe it was the circle lenses...

"I don't know why the school didn't deal with that grody old dude in the first-"

"Hey Junko, can we talk about something else?" Yukizome stepped in. Just like his own homeroom teacher, she was clearly trying to silence them from speaking amongst each other.

"Uggghhh... Okay fine. Ya'll are pansies." Junko sassed, fanning her hands dismissively. Fanning her... _long, bright red nails_.

Shuichi caught himself staring at her again, only turning away when she glared back. All sorts of thoughts flooded his brain, making it difficult to glue two strips of paper together. Theoretically, _anyone_ could have been wearing red fake nails. It's not like they were particularly uncommon, heck it could have been possible that it had been Himiko herself... But still, he couldn't help but wonder- 

_SHHHTCHHK-THWAWCK!!_

"GOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, TOKYO! HOW YA'LL DOIN' TODAY?"

The entire classroom jumped out of their seats. 

"KOKICHI! Some respect for my classroom, please!" Yukizome scolded the boy from across the room.

Because of course it had to have been him... 

"Oh, sorry Miss Yukizome! I'm just so PUMPED for this party prep party, I got a little carried away! Kyoko is, like, my bestie and I'm so excited to throw her the birthday party of the century!" Kokichi invited himself to sit in the last open chair between Makoto and Yukizome. "Oooooh, and look! Mr. Charity Case is here too!"

"Are you... Talking about me…?” Makoto pointed to himself, but Kokichi didn’t bother to respond.

"Hey, who the hell invited YOU?!" Junko slammed her hands against the table.

"Oh, well, you know..." Kokichi pointed at Shuichi while leaning back in his chair, only for Yukizome to quickly force his chair flat and tucking him in properly. 

Shuichi gulped. 

"What were you thinking inviting that asshole, Shuichi?!" She threw her fists up, causing Shuichi to instinctively curl up in defense. Sayaka grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down, calming the situation before it grew any more out of control.

"Junko, it's okay! If he's her friend too, then he's totally allowed to be here." Sayaka said, getting her to sit back down.

_You're too polite, Sayaka..._

The idol giggled as if she heard him. 

_...huh...?_

With everything that happened yesterday, maybe 'friends' wasn't the right term... But that didn't matter right now, why was he even here wasting his time? Wasn’t he supposed to be getting that letter? It wasn’t like he could just ask him in front of everybody else… He could feel his heart beginning to race as the questions started to flow through his mind.

"Oh Kokichi, whatcha drawin'?" Makoto glanced over at Kokichi, scribbling on pieces of scrap paper with crayons. "Looks like... um..."

"What's it look like? I'm drawing Kyoko's favorite thing in the world! Dead people!" Kokichi exclaimed, wearing the red crayon down to its end.

Continuing to smile, Makoto scooted his seat away from the boy. "That's very... thoughtful of you, but I'm not sure if that's appropriate for a birthday party."

"Look, it's fair if you don't know anything about Kyoko, shortstack, but _I've_ been friends with her family for yeaaaaars so I think I know a thing or two about what she'd like at her birthday!" He snapped back, switching to black marker to outline the causes of death.

"Ugh. Please... Ignore him. I don't even know why he's here." Shuichi couldn't keep himself from facepalming, speaking through his teeth. Faster and faster, his handiwork grew reckless as his anxiety swelled. Before long and without realizing it, Shuichi connected his chain to Sayaka's and with one fell yank, tore her chain in half. 

"Oh my god, I'm sorry-" 

The idol scooted back from her chair, sighing softly. It was so tiny and delicate, yet coming from her, it commanded the attention of everyone in the room. 

"What's wrong?" Makoto asked.

With an expression so tender, anyone could see what was wrong. Her charisma and smiles couldn't stop all the in-fighting and squabbling, devolving what was supposed to be a pleasant get-together into an awkward mess... Nothing was going as planned and now even she couldn't hide her disappointment. For once, she didn’t want everyone's eyes on her, but she got it anyways. 

"I... No, it's not... I was just... jealous of Junko was all." Sayaka quickly shifted contexts. 

"Huh?" Junko looked around, trying to figure out what she could possibly be talking about.

"You've been eating all those delicious snacks all day and yet you manage to stay so skinny! Oh, and your skin too! How do you do it? Genetics? Exercises?" Sayaka prattled on about her fellow model and laying it on thick. 

Blushing, Junko had no idea what to do with all the attention she'd suddenly been transferred with. 

"O-oh, uh... It's nothing really. Anyone can be as thin as me when they run several kilometers a day with weighted gear." She explained, giving a victory sign. "Yeah! Gotta keep my body nice and fit for the camera!"

"Ooooh... That's interesting!" Kokichi interjected with a sparkle in his eye. "I was talking to Sonia Nevermind the other day and that's what she does to keep her _military_ in tip-top shape! Never knew fashion models and soldiers had so much in common! Wow, I guess you learn something new everyday, huh Shuichi?" 

He turned to look the detective directly in the eye. 

_Err... What's THIS gambit...?_

"Eww! Don't even try to compare me to a gross-ass soldier!" Junko scrunched her nose at the thought, pushing up her bespeckled cheeks. "It's just something my agent suggested, okay?!"

“Haha, alright then, princess... BTW Sayaka, that was pretty sloppy, but it was a pretty useful swerve! As expected for such a famous celebrity! 6 out of 10!” Kokichi clapped sarcastically. 

No one knew how to respond to this.

_Oh god… Why…_

_Pi~pi~pi~!_

The sudden sound caused everyone to look around, but it was just Yukizome’s phone. Shuichi thanked the heavens for this god-send of a social interruption. 

"Oh shoot... sorry kids, I have to take this. This shouldn't take long, but don't you guys start fighting while I'm gone. Especially you two!" Yukizome dragged her fingers from her eyes to Kokichi and Junko before promptly leaving the room. 

The moment the door slid closed, Kokichi immediately leaned back in his seat once again, now with no one to stop him. Even with a well-liked teacher like Chisa Yukizome, with the absence of a chaperone, it was clear what everyone wanted to talk about. It only took a minute before the dam of silence broke.

"Hey guys...? Is it just me, or has Hope's Peak suddenly become really scary recently? I'm almost expecting to start finding frescoes around campus..." Chiaki confessed, "Two sudden expulsions from the C class, the murder, and then now Kaede's gone too? I've been hearing rumors that class attendance is gonna be mandatory soon... They even told the school council that they're even thinking of implementing a curfew. I wanna be strong for the sake of my classmates, but it feels something really bad's about to happen..."

"Maybe it was Himiko! She was so pissed about getting kicked out, she used her ~REAL MAGIC~ to curse the Academy!" 

Junko lobbed a roll of masking tape at Kokichi.

"This is serious, dipshit!"

"Wait, they're really thinking about adding a curfew?! Makoto, did you hear about that?" Sayaka turned to her own class representative. Fiddling with his hands, he struggled to gather his thoughts.

"...No solid plans have been made, but yeah. I _did_ hear about that. Apparently in addition to making homeroom mandatory, they're thinking of having a check-in sheet at the dorms. I have no idea what's going on around here, but the Academy's taking it very seriously..." Makoto sighed, rubbing his temples. "But again, nothing official yet."

This couldn't be happening. The Academy was planning on tracking the whereabouts of the students throughout the day... If they actually went through with this, his ability to investigate would become severely handicapped and the case would effectively die. Time was running out.

"That SUCKS! Can't we do _something_ about this?!" Junko snapped.

Shuichi gripped his knees hard beneath the table.

"It's best that we all just go along with whatever the Academy want us to do. Curfews are usually just implemented as a temporary precautionary measure. I'm sure they just want to comply with the police investigating the homicide." He hoped no one could see how fast his heart was pounding. 

"I agree with Shuichi... Besides, this is surely just the downturn of despair right before the ~hope-filled~ payoff. There's nothing in this world that such beautifully talented students such as yourselves can't handle-" Everyone cringed as they knew exactly who Kokichi was impersonating. 

"Kokichi, this isn't funny! Someone actually died!" Hajime interrupted.

"Well of course someone talentless like you wouldn't understand."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!"

"Hajime, calm down!"

As the classroom fell into a chaos of nerves and insult-slinging, Shuichi found himself blocking it all out. After fixing Sayaka's broken chain, he returned to his own project. None of this even mattered in the first place if Kokichi failed to get the letter. Once again, he failed Kyoko. That letter was supposed to be their big lead... Soon the school was going to severely restrict their ability to travel and here he was gluing together paper... What the hell was he supposed to do?

Sighing deeply, he felt a slight nudge to his knee. Avoiding eye-contact, Sayaka was discreetly trying to get his attention as the room slowly dissolved into sheer pandemonium.. Shuichi caught on and nodded slightly, otherwise pretending not to notice. 

"In my hand." She whispered leaning towards him.

Glancing below the table, he had to hold back a gasp.

"I realized we got switched up when I noticed this one wasn't addressed to Makoto. I didn't open it. I get the feeling it's pretty serious." She continued, handing the envelope to him in secret then patting his hand in confidence. Fighting the urge to open it right then and there, he tucked it into the most secure pocket of his bag. 

"Thanks. You have no idea how anxious I've been over this."

"I had a feeling. Just get the other letter back to me before the party." Sayaka smiled at him before taking a stand. "Stop fighting everybody! Let's just concentrate on the party, please!"

_Shhhhh-k_

She was finally back. After a rather long phone call, Yukizome appeared haggard.

"Hey kids, I'm really sorry. Something's come up and now I have to go to a meeting, so unfortunately I have to kick all you guys out. If you'd like, we can meet back here tomorrow after class." The teacher said, fixing her hair. 

Sayaka was disappointed, but understanding- "Aww, alright... Thank you for letting us use the classroom, Miss Yukizome! If everybody could help clean up-" 

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it later. I need to go right now." She began physically pulling students up from their seats and herding them out the door. 

"Ah- Miss Yukizome, you're supposed to walk me out the building-!" Hajime cried.

"You're a good kid, I trust you not to get in trouble. See you kids later." Yukizome slammed the door shut, locked it, then proceeded down the hall in a hurry.

All eight teens stood in the hall dumbfounded.

" _Uweeh~ Chisa~! Some respect for your classroom, please~!_ " Kokichi mocked Yukizome with a horrid impersonation, "Whatever, I'm over it. Let's go, Shuichi."

And with a surprisingly firm grip, Shuichi had no choice but to be dragged away. 

"Ah-! S-see you guys later, I guess!" He said, turning to wave at everyone one last time. 

"Alright! See you two later!" Sayaka bid them farewell, winking at him as she did. After such a rocky start, everything ended up working out in the end. He didn't even need Kokichi's help at all.

Once out of sight from the other students, Kokichi went from a steady pace to a sprint, still dragging Shuichi by the arm. Rushing down a flight of stairs, he could no longer handle the pace. Before he knew it, he stumbled onto the stair’s landing. 

"ACK-! Woah, slow down! What's the hurry?"

Kokichi groaned, pulling the clumsy detective back to his feet, still running in place.

"We wasted so much time in there! I _tried_ to sabotage that lame-ass craft circle so we can start plan b, but _apparently_ you didn't get the message!" He was _actually_ panicking. "If I don't have that goddamn letter by tomorrow, Kyoko's gonna lock me up in her freaky sex dungeon and beat me to a bloody pulp! I know you're into that weird shit, but I'm not!"

The boy standing before him was actually trembling... Kokichi may have been playing tough this entire investigation, but it turned out he was just as scared of Kyoko as most of her rivals. There was no actual chance that she was actually going to enact corporal punishment if he didn't follow through, but that didn't mean he wanted to even risk that possibility.

With the letter secure in his possession, Shuichi had the upper-hand against the trickster for once and there was no way in hell he was gonna let that opportunity slide away. Not after all these semesters. It was payback time at last.

"Nihihihi~! Oh, is that the case? Maybe you'd like it if I were the one roughing you up...?" Shuichi said with a shit-eating grin. Teasing his fingers along Kokichi's collar and up his chin, he stopped just short of his lips, too embarrassed himself to follow through with this bit. 

"AHHHHH!" Kokichi slapped Shuichi's hand away from his face, now tinged pink. "What the hell was _THAT_?! Never, EVER do that again!" 

"Hehehehe..." So this was how he felt! Certainly entertaining for the moment, but as soon as the rush of adrenaline subsided, Shuichi's apprehensive nature kicked in. "Relax, Kokichi. I just... couldn't help myself."

"Ugh, whatever! Can we go now? We're running out of time!" Flustered, he tugged at Shuichi's shirt, but the detective remained still.

"No we're not." Shuichi flashed the letter from his bag in a proud display of victory. 

From fright to shock and shock to amazement, Kokichi blossomed into joyous elation, barely able to contain himself. Looking as proud as a parent at their child's graduation, he grabbed Shuichi's hands and started jumping up and down. He'd never seen him this happy before. Without realizing it, he himself began to jump along with him- Kokichi’s glee was far too contagious.

"Oh my god! Shuichi, you've come so far! You got me so gooooood!" Kokichi wrapped his arms around Shuichi and squeezed as tight as he possibly could. "You're almost ready! Like, soooo close!" 

_...Ready? For what?_

"Tonight, we celebrate-", Kokichi proclaimed to the world, "-And I know just the place!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cut this one short due to length- I hope you guys are excited for Kokichi's favorite place in the world. ;)


	9. rejected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, sorry for the dearth of updates. The holidays were way more stressful than I expected and I had to restart this chapter like 3 whole times before getting something I even started to like. I'm going to try to stick to a schedule of weekly updates, if not sooner, in the future. Thanks!

"Daaaaaaaaaaymn. Eight different Family Marts and not a single one had it..."

They walked out from the convenience store, another failure under their belt. 

"You know, I'm pretty sure I saw the Halloween Pepsi available at the Lawsons down the street-" Shuichi suggested snidely. 

Gasping in shock, Kokichi swung his hand towards his classmate's face, missing by mere centimeters- "Do NOT start this, y-you-YOU LAWSON _HEATHEN_!", he rebuked with vitriol through his teeth, his face scrunched up like a shrunken apple. After a tense exchange of death glares, the two boys broke out in a roar of laughter. 

They may not have found any Halloween-themed soft drinks, but getting off-campus had been nice. In fact, just getting away from the case at all for an afternoon was just Shuichi needed. Seeing the vibrant streets of the cities filled with scarved young people hanging out with each other their day off, walking by street vendors hawking chestnuts and sweet potatoes, giving off an unbelievable aroma as they roasted- It just reminded him how he should get go into the city more often... Even if Shuichi secretly hoped he was planning on taking him to an actual restaurant instead of doing a tour of all the Family Marts within a 10 kilometer radius, spending quality time with Kokichi was nice enough on its own. 

_Wait seriously?_

Shuichi caught himself cycling the thought through his mind. Had he always felt this way? When did he-

"I'll tell ya what Shuichi, even if you are a weirdo sex-pervert, you're not half bad." Kokichi nudged him in the elbow, taking a bite of his chicken cheese cutlet. 

"Wait, what hell are you talking about?"

"Pfffft- You think I didn't notice the massive tent you were pitching last night when Ms. Hardass bullied me again? That's like... the second time I had to see you get a boner for Kyoko. Gross." 

Oh right. That. Shuichi wished he'd never have remember it ever again, but of course Kokichi would never let something as juicy as that slide. 

"Say, just out of curiosity, did you want to be me in that scenario... or _her_?" He pondered out loud, a devious grin grew across his face. 

The words drove a spike of hormones into the pit of his stomach, stopping him dead in his tracks. It scared him that he didn't know the answer. 

"Look, I don't know why you keep staring at my pants, but the obvious solution would be stop staring. Or maybe you can't help yourself? Either way, it's not my problem." It took every ounce of strength inside him to not sputter while talking back to the irl shitposter, pulling his hat down to cover the humiliation on his face. 

"Huh. You're getting better at this." Kokichi quietly noted, shoving the rest of the cutlet into his mouth. Shuichi had expected a witty retort from the delinquent, but after a while it became clear that he had dropped the subject entirely. Instead, he gave him a reassuring pat on the back. The silence seemed uncharacteristic coming from him, but strangely pleasant and warm... A part of Shuichi didn’t want this feeling to ever end, but...

"So, um... now what? We've wandered far from campus now and it's starting to get late. It's gonna take us at least an hour to get back with these crowds..." Shuichi started to pull up gps directions from his phone.

"No it's not, dummy. Well, it will if you rely on _that_." Kokichi pushed the phone away from his face and started to scan their surroundings. "We're way closer than you think. Stay by my side and maybe you'll actually learn something." 

Taking a hard right straight into an alleyway, he began to take them through obscure backstreets. He navigated through complex routes that sent them through private property even cutting through a restaurant's kitchen at one point. To him, the city wasn't defined by the streets and roads on a posted map, but rather he viewed the city and its entire geometry as a means of traversal. Nothing was off limits to him. It was hard to keep up at first even when Kokichi showed some degree of patience, but after the first couple of fence jumps and tight squeezes through alleyways, Shuichi started to get a hang of it. That was until...

"Come on, it's not that far of a jump! Don't be a coward!" Kokichi shouted out from the other side of a short rooftop gap. "This is baby mode! I was jumping gaps twice as wide than this with my eyes closed when I was half your age!" 

Shuichi was _terrified_ of heights. 

After climbing up several balconies up a building, deep down inside he knew this jump was inevitable. Sure the gap wasn't _that_ wide, but that didn't suddenly make the five story drop any less steep... The cheap snack food started to feel light in his stomach. 

"I-Isn't there any other way around this building? I'd rather take the long way around!" Shuichi stepped away from the ledge after getting a whopping dose of vertigo. 

"Whatever you're thinking- The height of this building, the broken spine you'll get if you fall, or... WHATEVER, stop thinking it. Instead think of how cool you'll look once you're over here! Someday you're gonna be chasing some criminal across the city and you're gonna have to jump across a rooftop to catch him, right? Wouldn't you think Kyoko would think you're badass?!"

The childish fantasies of what Kokichi thought he did as a detective was charming. Still, he _did_ have a point. He thought about how weak his field work game was and even if he wasn't chasing people like something out of Lupin the 3rd, he would benefit from overcoming this fear... But why try to motivate him? How much time could they possibly have saved by going through all this?

That's when it dawned on him. 

_He's... testing me?_

Kokichi started to grow visibly impatient, tapping his feet against the ground with his hands planted on his hips. 

"What about Kaede, huh? If you can jump this, maybe you'll have the guts to actually ask her out when we get her back!" He shouted. 

"Hey! That's not fair!" Shuichi grew flustered... He was really willing to pull anything out to manipulate him, wasn't he?

"Well, I ain't got all day! Do it or don't! Either way, I'm gonna go with or without you!" The command practically exploded from his tiny body, flinging his arms in the air wildly as he did. There wasn't any getting out of this. Of course not. At the end of the day, The Supreme Leader always got what he wanted. 

"Alright, alright... jeez..."

It was time to come up with a strategy. 

The gap was approximately a meter across, perhaps even less. He had jumped farther distances in PE. Heck, he'd even done farther long jumps during nightly training with Kaito and Maki- which he suddenly remembered he's been neglecting to attend for the past couple of nights... But now was not the time to think about that! If he backed up far enough for a running start, this gap should be a piece of cake... Though what if he caught his foot on the lip of the roof? The exercises he had done in the past didn't involve obstacles that his feet would possibly get caught on plunging him to a horrible death! He'd done some preliminary investigations for a wrongful death suit filed against an employer after one of their employees fell four stories to their death. He'd SEEN what happens to a human body if they fell that far! Maybe he shouldn't-

"FOR GOODNESS SAKE JUST JUMP ALREADY!"

The words caused panic to set in and he ran towards the edge, leaping without thinking. In the moment he was suspended in mid-air, he could feel every excruciating heart beat and every bead of sweat burning his skin as forced its way through his body. His form was no doubt terrible and an absolute embarrassment, but somehow, despite everything, his foot slammed down onto the other side. He made it. Shuichi couldn't stop the nervous laughter from escaping from inside him, still tearing up and shaking like crazy. 

"See? I wouldn't have brought you up here if I knew you couldn't do it." 

"Hahaha- Y-yeah I-I guess you're r-right..." Shuichi stuttered, feeling light-headed. He rubbed his sore temples and let himself recover his breath. The trust that Kokichi gave was far too generous, but ultimately held true. All he needed to do was stop thinking about it and just DO it. He just needed to forget everything and believe in himself. 

Forgetting where he was, he took a step back off the edge of the roof. 

"GODDAMN-"

In a blink of an eye, Shuichi went from solid footing to a state of weightlessness. 

_This is it._ He thought to himself. _It's all over._

But instead of the free release of his grey matter onto the pavement below, he felt his feet dangle below him freely, his shoulder screaming in agony as his arm felt pulled out of its socket.

Kokichi caught him. 

"SON OF A-!" He screamed, wincing in pain as the friction of Shuichi's sleeve not only ruined his bandages but also re-opened all his wounds. As the blood began to soak through his sleeve, he realized his rescuer's grasp was starting to slip. He didn't have the strength in him for this. "C-come on... Not now..."

"K-Kokichi-!"

"GET UP HERE YOU-!" Kokichi lunged forward and yanked his arm with everything he had left in himself, pulling Shuichi just high enough to reach the ledge with his other hand. A year's worth of upper body workouts with Kaito helped him make up the difference to the top. With Shuichi successfully safe and sound, he collapsed onto his back with a huge huff. "Cheese and rice... N-never do that to my heart again, you clumsy oaf... Jeez..." 

"Never do that to YOUR heart?! What about- Oh, nevermind..." He quickly realized it wasn't worth the effort. The boy looked so exhausted where he was after exerting his tiny body beyond its normal limits... It didn't look like they were going to get back to campus anytime soon at this point. 

"Sorry..." Shuichi muttered under his breath. 

"...But you made it, didn't you? Haha... I made sure of it..." Staring directly into the night sky above them, he almost wiped the sweat from his forehead before noticing how bloody his hands were. "Hey, you don't happen to still carry those bandages in your purse, do you?"

"Yeah, and maybe I'll actually bandage your hands this time if you don't make fun of me..." He took a seat next to the injured boy who saved his life.

"You know I could have just let you go, right?" Kokichi pouted, woefully offering his hands up for some much needed TLC. He was far too pathetic to ignore.

"Could have. But I know you wouldn't have." Shuichi shrugged as he began to bandage his slender fingers. He remembered how much the boy enjoyed this last time. "You like me too much. For... _some_ reason." 

"Pfft- BWAHAHAHAHA! You're a hoot. A real... goddamn hoot. OWWWWIE-! EASY THERE! You detectives are a pain the ass, you know that!? My poor fingers are never gonna heal at this rate..." He continued to hem and haw throughout the entire process of being patched up, complaining as loudly as possible.

"There. All wrapped up. Sorry for falling... I feel like an idiot." Shuichi felt awful, but he didn't know why. It wasn't like it was his fault that they were up here in the first place... 

Instead of acknowledging him, Kokichi pulled his phone out and stared at its screen. Typing for a few moments and pausing then starting again, something was clearly on his mind. After sending a few messages he rolled over and glanced at Shuichi with worried eyes. 

"Did you have fun though?"

That should have been the last question to ask after nearly getting him killed from a stupid stunt. Even now, Kokichi's priorities were still child-like.

"I... don't know... I'm still trying to mentally recover from what just happened." Shuichi muttered while rolling his strained shoulder. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed impossible to relieve the pain. 

Kokichi laid there unresponsive.

"Hey Shuichi, the view from this side sucks. Follow me." Without saying anything else, he scrambled his way up the roof's stairway bulkhead. Just watching him climb up the structure made his entire body ache.

_Of course there'd be more climbing..._

Begrudgingly, trying to avoid as much pressure on his shoulder as possible, Shuichi followed suit. As he struggled his way to the top, he was rewarded with a rare picturesque view of the entirety of Hope's Peak Academy’s campus in all its glory. The well grounds with its award-winning architecture and gardens were well-lit at night, creating a spectacle few had the privilege of experiencing. It became clear why real estate surrounding the Academy was considered among the highly prized in the city. 

"Almost makes you forget that it's a shitty, scum-infested hellhole, doesn't it?" Kokichi broke the silence, a tinge of bitter disgust strained his voice. He glared at the main building with half-hearted smirk and such disdain, Shuichi expected the building to catch fire from the sheer hatred burning within him. He was almost certainly holding himself back from saying something even _worse_. "I hope every last one of those bastards gets what's coming to them."

After everything he's discovered about the Academy in the past week, Kokichi's hatred of Hope's Peak was certainly well deserved, but it still stung... Looking at the iconic old building towering in the distance and fondly recalling the past year and a half- His time here was some of the best times Shuichi's ever had in his life. Was it really _that_ bad? 

"Not everybody behind Hope's Peak's complicit, you know... Headmaster Kirigiri seems like he genuinely cares for us." Shuichi suggested. 

"Maaan... You are one of THE most gullible people in the world, you know that? Headmaster Kirigiri, like ALL those goddamn Kirigiris, is one of the absolute most complicit people in that wretched hive!" Kokichi spat his words in Shuichi’s face. Realizing how unwound he was appearing, he took a deep breath and settled back down. "At least Headmaster Tengan would have _tried_ to do something to stop this from happening instead of immediately bending over, ass up... The Academy's always been a goddamn mess though... I'd have my followers burn it all down if I could..."

Shuichi recalled that Kokichi had done his research into the Academy before accepting his invitation... What the hell did he find out...? And furthermore... 

"If you knew all this beforehand, why did you accept the invitation in the first place?"

The question made him wince.

"It's cute that you think I had a choice in the matter."

"...What?"

Kokichi stood up straight, draped in the glow of the city at night- his long hair swayed as it was carried by the wind. The look he gave in his eyes was the most determined Shuichi had ever seen. It was a look of longing and desperation, almost like he was about to beg for mercy on his life. 

"Hey, screw the Academy and this bullshit mystery. Let's run away and never look back." 

The words sent chills down his spine. 

"..H-huh-?! W-where's this all coming from?!" Shuichi sputtered helplessly. All these emotions flooding every inch of his body was frying his brain. 

"This whole game? I finally realized it's rigged and now it's boring the hell out of me. Anyways, I figure I'd cut my losses and take the only worthwhile person I found in this garbage fire and get out while I still have my head firmly attached to my neck." Kokichi spoke with a grand flourish, extending his heavily bandaged hand as an offering. "So how about it then? I'll show you the world and more!"

Shuichi stared at the hand for a solid minute.

"What... are you _doing_?"

"It's alright, I already cleared it with the gang! They're so excited to meet you!" Kokichi said, taking one step further. He shoved his hand ever closer to Shuichi, but when he still refused to budge, he eyed his hand wondering what was wrong only returning to lock eyes immediately afterwards. His smile began to slip. "What's wrong? Is it... the bandages, or...?"

"N-no." 

"Hm? No, as in it's not the bandages...? What is it then?" 

"No, as in I'm not joining your gang. I still have work here to do!” Shuichi slapped the hand away from him. 

"...Huh?" Kokichi stood there stood stunned, slowly retracting his hand. The sting of the slap layered over his existing injuries didn't even phase him. None of this made any sense to him... 

Shuichi began to realize what was going on.

"Wait, is this why you've been being weirdly nice to me all day? Is this why you tricked me into jumping that stupid gap? You've been exploiting my emotions! I thought you were maybe a good person! I almost died you know?!

"But why... wouldn't want to?" Kokichi asked with a whimper. Even with the sudden escalation to accusations, he still couldn't get past getting rejected. 

It took everything in Shuichi to not toss him off the roof. 

"You've been a dick to me all this time and you think pushing the correct buttons is magically going to make me forget all that? I'm NOT going to abandon this case OR Hope's Peak just because you're a goddamn coward!" He spoke with such passion, his spit flew into Kokichi's face, barely causing him to flinch. Just as it seemed nothing was getting through to him, his face morphed from confusion to anger.

"Wait, are you doing this because of _Kyoko_?!" Kokichi cried, still completely in denial. 

"What?! NO!" Shuichi couldn't believe what he was hearing. 

"So THAT'S what's going on! Don't lie to me, I HEARD her tell you to stop hanging out with me!" He said, shoving Shuichi back with some force. 

He... overheard? Then... that day they were walking through the woods, he didn't actually leave?

"Wh-what are you doing, eavesdropping on us like that?! This has nothing to do with my decision!" Shuichi tried to defend himself, not realizing this was exactly what Kokichi wanted to hear.

"I knew it. So that bitch _had_ been filling your head with slander." Kokichi coolly backed away. He had successfully bluffed his way to the truth.

Shuichi was rendered speechless. 

Sighing deeply, he continued- "She may seem like fun and games for now, but under all that makeup and frills, she's just like all the other scumbag detectives- Once you're no longer useful for extracting facts out of, you may as well be the wadded up tissue you wipe your dick with after you jack off to her. It's all the same."

It was hard to keep calm hearing his hostile accusations, but something was clearly strange about the way he behaved... Why was he suddenly so aggressive about this? Was he really that threatened by Kyoko's presence? He'd always become vitriolic whenever she was brought up in conversation, like he knew her intimately... But Kyoko had never shown any signs of knowing him prior to attending Hope's Peak. Where was this hatred coming from? 

"Kyoko's not like other detectives... I believe in her." Shuichi carefully sprung the trap, hoping to gain insight in why he behaved the way he did. The effect was immediate.

"BWAHAHAHAHAAHAH~! Woooooow Shuichi, for a detective you sure do accept people on face-value alone, huh?" Kokichi mocked him, covering his mouth with his hand to hold back even uglier laughs, his toothy grin visible between his fingers. "You ever _once_ wonder why she wears those tacky gloves all the time? The lengths she went to get accepted into Hope's Peak? The people she had _DIE_ in her place?! You think I'm a coward?! Kyoko Kirigiri's the biggest coward of them all!"

"I... don't know what you're talking about. I'm pretty sure you're just bluffing." Shuichi bluffed. The sweat accumulating on his brow betrayed his stoic composure.

"Ever wonder how _she_ must have felt? Protecting little Kyoko like her own sister only for her to get tossed in the furnace like it was nothing? That was the case she used to get noticed by the admissions office! Wow! How convenient for Kyoko! Hmmm... What was her name again? Eh... doesn't matter anyways. I bet even Kyoko's forgotten her by now. Like father like daughter, I guess." He shrugged, continuing the trend of being as frustratingly vague as possible. 

This in itself was a trap. Even if any of this troubling intel was true, Shuichi realized Kokichi was just trying to sink his hooks into him. He needed to stay as vigilant as possible. 

"Look Kokichi, whatever you're trying to pull right now isn't going to work. I need to stay here and see this case through. It's my duty as a detect-"

"Do you even like being a detective?" Kokichi snapped back to an unnervingly neutral head cock. "Because I get the feeling you hate the role with all your guts."

"Er... W-what?"

"You hate it don't you? Dealing in humanity's dirty secrets for cash? You're paid to see the worst in people day in and day out and for what? Hey, fun fact- That Mr. Takahashi guy you worked with a year ago with the wife you caught cheating on him? Turns out he was an abusive asshole and she was trying to escape. After you gave him the deets, he beat her into a coma. She's a vegetable now, but hey! That paycheck was pretty sweet, huh?" He grew more animated by the moment, ramping the negging up to a near-unbearable level. 

Shuichi wanted to run away. He had heard what had happened… but chose to forget. It was the only way he could even sleep at night. Why was Kokichi doing this to him...?

_...Don't let him get to you. He's trying to get you mad._

"Hey, something's been bothering me for a while Shuichi." Kokichi took a step closer. "I don't think there's ever been a case where two people of the same talent got accepted into Hope's Peak in the same year. I mean, other than those losers who won the lottery, but I repeat myself- being lucky isn't a talent."

With each step the boy took, Shuichi braced himself. Mentally, physically, every way possible really. Kokichi was displeased with his impudence and he was certainly not going to let him go without a fight. 

"We all know Kyoko's definitely fit for the title. Even I can't dispute that. So... Mr. 'Ultimate Detective'... what are you _really_?" 

Kokichi was mere inches from his face now. He needed to fight back now or it'd be all over. 

"I don't know, Taro. You tell me." Shuichi took the gamble. He... had no choice. 

His sinister expression immediately vanished. Kokichi scrambled as far away from the boy as he possibly could looking absolutely mortified- 

"Ahhh- W-What the hell?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" 

It was a complete shot in the dark, or so he thought... 

_Then that dream... could it really...?_

"So your real name is _actually_ Taro Inoue? Seriously? Wow, no wonder why you changed it. Even _I_ can't take that name seriously." Shuichi doubled-down and started laughing, trying to sound as derisive as possible. 

"W-who the hell are you?! Who the FUCK told you?!" Looking an awful lot like Miu at the moment, Kokichi was on the verge of tears. The tides were actually turning? 

"Not so tough without your mask, huh?" Attempting to continue the act, Shuichi tried to laugh at the poor boy only for him to get tackled off the ledge, landing squarely on his shoulder. If it wasn't broken then, it certainly was now... The pain was disorienting, the only thing that kept him conscious was Kokichi's voice- 

"I... trusted you. I thought you weren't like the other detectives... Turns out you're just another scummy piece of shit that digs your nose into places YOU DON'T BELONG! Well, you know what? Screw you, screw Kyoko, and screw and this stupid mystery! I'm ending it here right now!"

Collecting himself, Shuichi looked up above him in horror.

He had the letter. 

"It didn't have to be this way Shuichi! You have no one to blame but yourself!" Pulling a lighter from his pocket, Kokichi flicked the ignition. 

"KOKICHI, NO! DON'T YOU DARE-!"

Breaking out in a cold sweat, he attempted to get up, but the pain was too much to bear. There was nothing he could do as the envelope went up in flames. 

The futility of it all... What was even the point...?

"Dang, maybe if you were an actually COMPETENT detective you would have read the letter as soon as possible! Instead you got distracted by little ol' me all day!" Kokichi released the glowing embers to the wind. There was... nothing he could do. He hopped down from the bulkhead, walking right past Shuichi's crumpled, defeated body. 

"Anyways, I'm outtie. I guess that means when Kyoko inevitably gets thrown in the grinder in the next few days, you'll be on your own. Damn shame. Coulda had something, you and I." 

And like that, he disappeared into the night. 

\---

"Kokichi... What are you doing...?" Shuichi asked to himself, flipping open his phone to go over his texts. Half-past midnight and still no response... 

He'd really messed up this time, huh? Not even an invite to the bridge got anything. 

'Look, I'm sorry for turning you down again... I have work to do here, I can't just suddenly leave! I just... wanna talk. Please.'

Shuichi sighed. Deep down he knew he was wasting his time at this point... It wouldn't be surprising if he never saw the boy ever again. 

A gust blew past past his legs, sending a shiver up his body- even the wool knee-highs were no match for the wind chill at this time of year. He pulled his socks up regardless. Better than nothing. 

_Stupid uniforms... Total bullshit._

His request for a longer skirt was temporarily denied due to lack of stock, so he was stuck with the pathetically short standard issued one that stopped mid-thigh until November... It almost made him consider putting in a request for the boy's uniform instead. It wouldn't be the first time a girl filed that sort of request, right?

Still... This was his favorite spot on campus. Away from the others, certainly more quiet than the dorms most of the time. It was a great place to get away with a mug of tea and just write. He'd rather be here than back there where that annoying girl was getting ready for that stupid party... Why was she so popular anyways?

"Ugh..." 

There wasn't anything _wrong_ with her, Shuichi was just bitter. Nothing had really gone his way this entire year... Hope's Peak was nothing like he'd been promised. Sure the facilities were nice, but there wasn't really anyone who was interested in the same academic subjects as him, leaving him high and dry in his studies. There wasn't a single upperclassman who was into literature either... Sure the kinds of stuff he wrote was not exactly high brow stuff, but it was still alienating. Not to mention all these weird medical tests they had to take every quarter always felt so invasive. Why so frequent? Weirdos...

Worst of all, that asshole kept contacting him. 

"UGH..." Shuichi groaned, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket. Just thought of that guy made his skin crawl. "What a fuckin' mistake..."

No one believed him when he said the guy kept following him onto campus for months now. Not even incriminating messages or letters threatening him got any response from security... He would try the police, but what could they do anyways? 

He should have listened to Kokichi when he said the guy was trouble...

Lighting the cigarette and taking a few unhealthfully long puffs, Shuichi settled into the bridge's railing. He was so goddamn exhausted, but after that big fight with Kokichi earlier, he couldn't bring himself to sleep. Too stressed out to write too... 

_I'm so useless..._

"Hey Mitsuko. Funny seeing you here." 

Shuichi swung around. It was him. 

"H-Hey! You shouldn't be here you know! I told you to stop bothering me!"

Looking sketchier than ever in a large black parka and that gross-ass moptop, he slunk towards him. 

"It's gross when you smoke. It's so unlady-like..." He said, his smug face exaggerated by the overhead streetlamp. He tried to grab the cigarette straight from his mouth, but Shuichi ducked and backed away. 

"Fuck off, Hideo. If you don't leave I'm gonna call security." Shuichi tried to keep his cool, but he he could feel the railing digging into his back. With him closing in, there was nowhere to run. 

"If you wanna call security, then go ahead. Like they'd believe some tobacco-stained whore like you anyways..." Hideo closed the gap between them. 

Shuichi wanted to scream but nothing came.

He couldn't do anything as his hand ran up his thigh- grabbing and touching as he pleased. Shuichi knew what would happen if he interfered- the broken ankle, the facial bruises... He just... froze. 

"See? Even a fat pig like you can be useful for something." 

Shuichi tried to blank out, trying to think of anything else. It was his fault this was happening in the first place... If he just... went somewhere else this would all be over fast.

_No._

He had to fight back. 

Shuichi wasn't a strong person, but he didn't need to be. With one swift kick, he let go. 

"ARG-! FUCKING HELL GODDAMMIT!"

With this chance he tried to sprint, but his arm was grabbed. Yanked back hard, he could see the rage in Hideo's eyes through his own tears. 

"NO YOU FUCKING DON'T, YOU'RE DONE!" 

One punch to the gut. Then a second. 

"YOU TALENTLESS-"

Three. Four.

"-CUNT!"

Fifth to the chest, then a sixth.

"I DESERVED THIS ACADEMY, NOT YOU!"

With the seventh blow, Shuichi realized that the burning pain from each punch was growing wet. These weren't punches. Looking down past his crimson soaked clothing, he saw the glint of steel entering and exiting his flesh, over and over. 

Eight. Nine. Ten. 

He just wouldn't stop. 

_Kokichi... I'm... sorry..._

Shuichi was becoming faint, his body starting to grow limp against the railing and yet he still wouldn't relent.

Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. 

He couldn't even tell where he was stabbing anymore. Wounds melted into each other, older pain overshadowed by new pain. It didn't matter anymore. It just didn't- 

"I never wanted this." The boy's face was scrunched up, soaked with tears and blood splatter. "We could had something good together, Mitsuko! I _LOVED_ you! Why did you have to go?!"

He couldn't respond. Words barely had any meaning to him at this point. Just sounds. 

"SAY SOMETHING!"

"HEY, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!"

That voice-

"K-Kokichi?"

The young boy tackled his assailant, forcing Shuichi to collapse to the ground. His vision blurry, he could barely catch what was going on. Bodies tackling each other. Yelling. Dodging. Throwing punches. 

"Kokichi... no..." His voice was weak, almost non-existent. Still, at this moment he feared for him. If there was one thing still keeping him here on this godforsaken planet, it was wanting Kokichi to be safe. He had to be safe... After everything they did together... 

"FUCKING BRAT-!" Hideo started to charge towards the stunned boy. 

"Kokichi, look out-!" Shuichi shouted, spraying blood from his mouth. 

He looked up at the charge and immediately dropped to ground as flat as he could. Not able to react to the sudden action, Hideo tripped over the boy, sending him over the edge of the bridge, the resulting gruesome sound made it very clear he was not climbing back up. Kokichi panted, looking over the edge. He said nothing, but the look on his face confirmed it. 

Shuichi's breathe was starting to fade. Kokichi was safe... His eyes closed without realizing it.

"Hey! HEY! Mitsuko! Stay with me!" 

When he opened them, Kokichi was there next to him supporting his head. 

"Hey, d-dummy. Y-you're late." Shuichi smiled at the boy. 

Kokichi held him tight, he could feel the heavy pittering of his tears as they fell onto his face. 

"I'm sorry I'm sorry I should have been here earlier oh my god please don't go..." Kokichi looked up and down Shuichi's body assessing the damage. "I-It doesn't look so bad. You look good, actually!"

"Y-you don't need to lie."

"N-No! I- I think you're gonna be okay!" Kokichi began tearing off parts of his shirt and applying pressure to the neck wound. "I mean, that knife was tiny- These wounds aren't that deep! Not even this one looks too bad... I just... need to get you to a hospital."

"Y-yeah, okay s-sure..." Shuichi responded without really knowing what he was responding to. His voice was soothing though...

"Here, put pressure on your neck... I'm going to get security!" He took Shuichi's hand and pressed it hard against the wound before running off, his hand slipping away the moment he left. 

"O-okay..." He said to nobody, his reaction far too delayed for anyone to hear. 

It was quiet now at last. Finally. 

He thought of everything that'd happened up until this point- The childhood spent within hospice, the illustrious career he'd made for himself from the ground up... 

His fingertips were getting cold. 

In hindsight, he probably should have gone outside more often, seen more things. Maybe things would have been better if he'd just joined Kokichi's gang. Oh well. 

Before he realized it he was surrounded by unrecognizable figures. 

"She's losing blood quick-"

"Get her on support now!"

So many people now, but he was nowhere to be found. 

"...Kokichi...? Where... did you go?"

"Alright Ms. Chiba... Stay with us, okay? We're gonna make sure you're okay."

"...Kokichi..." 

Everything faded into black. 

Glimpses of blurred light and muffled sound fought to break through the barrier to no success. He was sinking deeper and deeper into a warm sea, each wave pulling him further down into its depths. There was no resisting it anymore, neither did he want to really. It felt safe here. 

"This is truly bizarre... After stabilization, the production of the hormone completely ceased..." 

"What does this mean?"

"...I'm not sure, but we need to get her to restart production immediately."

"You're suggesting-"

"I'm suggesting that we're on the cusp of the scientific breakthrough of the century and the life of some low-brow, schlock slinger is well worth the price of entry."

"But her family-"

"-Signed the contract long ago. They knew what they were getting into when they did this."

So noisy. What were they talking about anyways?

Shuichi opened his eyes slightly, becoming blinded by surgical lights. He tried covering his eyes, but his limbs were restrained and connected to all sorts of medical equipment... Turning his head slightly he saw two older men in white coats. They hadn't noticed him yet. 

He closed his eyelids just enough for him to peer through. 

"Look, we've been drip-fed this entire time and if this turns out to be what I believe it to be, we won't even _need_ them anymore. The quality appears even higher than the royal strain they've flaunted at us... No wonder they've kept us from their dying children this entire time..."

"...Perhaps it's worth a shot. But what does this mean for the future of the Orpheus Project?"

"We keep on course. They don't have to know we're doing this research. We can thank that boy for that convenient story. Ignorance is bliss. " The man injected some substance into his iv bag. "Keep an eye on her. Record everything that happens."

"... Yes sir."

They were… going to kill him.

“H-Hey! Wait a second, no! I don’t want to die! Stop!” Shuichi began to yell, but neither men seemed to care. 

"Look Makoto, everything's going to be okay. You're freaking out over nothing!" 

_Huh?! Sayaka?_

He swung around to the otherside of the table where his two classmates were, bleeding from their neck but otherwise seemingly okay. Why were THEY here?!

"Hey! HEY! Makoto, Sayaka! Untie me, please! I think they're trying to kill me!" He screamed at them, desperately tugging at his restraints. 

They didn't flinch. 

"HEY! CAN'T YOU HEAR ME?! I'M GOING TO DIE!" 

"I'm just worried... We shouldn't be doing this... What if you get caught? I don't want you to get hurt..." Makoto whimpered, squeezing her hand. 

"I need to do this for them. You trust me, don't you?" She smiled reassuringly and kissed the boy tenderly. 

"I... alright. I believe in you." He held her tightly in his arms. 

Shuichi felt injection start to take effect, paralyzing the muscles in his body. Before long, could no longer breathe. He could no longer scream. Or fight. It was too late. As his vision began to fade, the last thing he saw was Makoto turning and looking directly at him, brow furled in confusion. Could he... actually see him? 

"Makoto, what's wrong?"

"Um... Nothing... I just had a weird feeling just now." 

\---

_Pi~ Pi~!_

"Hmmmmhhhnng..." Shuichi rubbed the crud from his eyes. “AHHH-!” 

He suddenly remembered! Shooting up from bed, he grasped his neck and abdomen wanting to protect himself, but there was nothing there.

“It was… just a dream? It was so real though...”

Suddenly the pain from his shoulder set in, radiating like a motherfucker. Last night was rough… Goddammit Kokichi... He had to call Kaito and talk his way all the way up to that roof and drag his sorry ass to the Academy's medical ward and make up some stupid story... 

He rearranged his shoulder sling to sit properly like the nurse directed. Not the worst fracture in the world, but it was his right arm... This was going to take a while to get used to. Goddammit Kokichi. 

_Pi~ Pi~!_

Oh right, the phone. It was Kyoko.

"Shuichi, how are you doing? I heard you got injured last night."

Horrible.

"It’s fine. How are you?"

" _Sigh_... I've been trying to get in contact with Kokichi but he's not returning my texts." 

"He ran away. Don't worry about him anymore." Shuichi spoke with a biting tone. GodDAMMIT Kokichi.

Kyoko was silent for a moment.

"I see. That's... annoying. Anyways, don't forget we're going to the Paranormal Investigation club today. I'll be damned if I have to go by myself. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, hope to see you soon too."

_click_

Shuichi looked out at the morning sun from his window. 

"Mitsuko..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wooo boy. That second to last segment was pretty hard to write, but it's nice to get some reveals from the past out. Next chapter we're going to start digging deeper into modern day occurrences from an unlikely source! 
> 
> If you're still around reading this, I thank you dearly! Hopefully the next update won't take as long as this one!


	10. Making the Connection

Shuichi sighed heavily. 

"That's the eighth sigh this hour."

"You've been counting...?"

"I was curious to see how you'd react to this all. He was your friend, after all."

'Friend'. His arm felt heavy in his sling.

"..."

"I'm sorry."

Thick tension had built up in the elevator between the two detectives. It wasn't until now that she'd pointed it out that he'd realized how tense he’d was become. Between the dull pain from his torn shoulder, the ever-growing pulse in his aching head that had started that morning, and the betrayal of the person he forgave a few too many times, he really wished he could have just stayed in bed all day. 

"Did you hear Hiyoko and Mahiru are gone now too? Been gone since yesterday. The Academy didn't even bother giving an explanation this time. Chiaki's been panicking all morning..."

The words felt empty. He should have felt something, but he just couldn't bring himself to care. Not right now.

“I wish he wasn’t such a coward. That’s all.” 

“We all want things. While you two were out messing around all day, two more girls disappeared. Get your priorities straight.” Kyoko stated flatly, her bluntness stung.

“Tch.” Shuichi scoffed, digging his heels in. This was awkward as hell. Why couldn’t the elevator move faster…?

Placing her hands on her hips then under her chin, Kyoko struggled to think of what to say. It wasn’t like she was trying to be cruel, but she knew that her usual demeanor wasn’t exactly the most comforting- Shuichi was far more sensitive than most detectives she grew up around. Whether she liked it or not, it was in her best interests to not distance the boy detective from herself. 

“You know, Kokichi made the rational decision. It’s our duty as detectives to uncover the truth, not his. Despite how you deny it, I know a part of you cares about him and you should know by removing himself he’s safe. In fact, I’d wager the reason why he wanted you to join was an attempt to protect you. If I were in his situation I would have perhaps tried to do the same…” Kyoko articulated clearly and precisely, hoping compassionate rationality was what he needed.

Just hearing his name out loud made his blood boil...

“You don’t know that asshole. My arm’s going to be in a sling for at _least_ the next month if I’m lucky. Trying to protect me? What a joke...” Shuichi spat out. He knew he was being childish, but he didn’t care. It was the only way he could forget the pain...

Kyoko stood there in silence. The fact that she clearly saw right through his transparent emotional facade made Shuichi’s skin crawl... When she finally spoke again, her voice was far softer and unsure. 

“...Perhaps it’s for the best he left.”

“Hm?”

“When you’re a detective that works with particularly troubling cases… it’s best not to get too attached to your partners. I learned that the hard way… a few years ago. I’m just saying maybe it’s better that he’s out there and okay...” Kyoko said with a pained voice. It was hard to listen to… She barely said anything and yet the message came through crystal clear. It made Shuichi feel like a petty child in comparison. 

_Ding._

The elevator door opened to a crowd of underclassmen leaving their classes for the day. They'd finally reached their floor and the two collectively took a breath of that sweet fresh air. Shuichi had never been so happy to get out of an elevator in his entire life. Following Kyoko's lead, he kept as close to her side as possible as she walked at an expeditious pace. She was clearly distressed about talking about her past. It appeared that Kokichi wasn’t wrong about the loss of her former partner, but he had implied that Kyoko had selfishly sacrificed her... Nothing in the way she spoke seemed to imply that at all. She looked so... gutted. 

As he looked over at her, she cocked her head back and sighed. 

"Heh… Looks like you caught the bug." Shuichi said, trying to lighten the mood. 

"Appears so." Kyoko played along. "I don't know why I said so much. It's... completely out of character for me." 

"Eh?"

She stopped in her tracks, a single droplet sitting on the wing of her eye. 

"For some reason when I'm around you I feel like I can open myself up, even about subjects I once believed I couldn't talk about with anyone else. It's annoying." Kyoko confessed, averting her eyes.

Shuichi tried to ignore the feeling of his heart flutter as she admitted her vulnerabilities towards him. What did she mean by this? It wasn't like he was particularly special in any way... His brain scattered in a million different directions in search for some sort of a cognisant answer. 

_Does she…_

It was hard to tell with someone like Kyoko who generally kept quiet about her own personal feelings... Still, everyone seemed to make her out to be some cold emotionless machine completely detached from humanity, but she was far from that to him. She always took the time to be patient and gentle, always taking care of him when he felt weak…

…

His face went completely flush.

_N-no… don’t be stupid..._

Shuichi had to shake himself out of it before the feeling completely overtook him. Where did this all come from? This entire line of thought was making him feel very nervous... and for some reason, nauseous…

Kyoko smirked- "Have you considered joining the police force? They could use a competent interrogator for once." 

\---

"Ahhhhhhh- Kyoko, good to see you in! And Shuichi, my man! Eh… what happened to your arm?"

“...Don’t worry about it.” 

“Alright then, my dude.”

Yasuhiro Hagakure led the two into the main club area: a sad tiny closet of a space tucked away in the back of a floor primarily meant for first year students. Hope's Peak had what felt like an innumerable amount of extracurricular clubs, but this had to have been the saddest of the bunch. Shuichi had no idea the new building even had rooms this small available to the students, in fact on closer inspection this was originally intended to be a storage room...

Barely wide enough for the giant meeting table, the only source of light in the dim room was a single tiny window with its curtains partially drawn. Charts detailing body auras and various blurry photographs plastered the wood-paneled walls, red yarn connecting each to a map of the world. A few manilla folders were scattered upon the tabletop, accompanied by an expensive-looking china teapot and several stoneware tea cups. Despite only being a year old, the room looked like it'd been forgotten for several decades. Crammed between the table and the walls sat Korekiyo, Gundam, Sonia, and a very sorry looking Kazuichi Soda, the last of whom forced Shuichi to perform a double-take.

"Why hello there, Shuichi. You as well, Miss Kirigiri. Care for some tea? I just brewed a fine Oolong." Korekiyo offered, knitting a round object. The smell should have been pleasant, but right now the strong odor was nausea-inducing.

"Yes, it is quite nice! Such a fragrant aroma!" Sonia began pouring two cups of tea. "Please take a seat! Oh, and I made inari sushi for everyone as well!"

She dug through her bag and pulled out a rather large and elaborate lacquer bento box filled with the aforementioned bean-curd pockets accompanied with an assortment of fruits cut in cute shapes.

"Wow, Miss Sonia really is amazing isn't she? Picking up on Japanese culture so fast!?" Kazuichi exclaimed, falling deaf on Sonia's ears. 

Not really knowing how to react to such hospitality, the two sat down and accepted the offerings. Shuichi had no idea what to expect when he came here, but the last thing he expected was this level of domesticity. 

"Um... Thanks." He wasn’t particularly hungry, but he took one just to be polite.

“Do you want some more? I still have plenty!” Sonia pushed the box on Shuichi.

They _were_ good, but…

“Sorry… I’m just not really feeling it. I’ll stick to tea, thanks.”

“Hm? You certainly don’t seem to look too well. What seems to be wrong, Shuichi?” Korekiyo asked the queasy-looking boy. All this attention was becoming too much for him, just wanting to recover from the day before. He wished he could just tell everyone to back off but...

"Shuichi had a bad fall yesterday, hence the arm. He hasn't been feeling well since so I ask that everyone please be gentle and let him rest." Kyoko stood up for him without needing to ask. "I originally asked him to take the day off, but he insisted on being here to support me during my presentation."

Her pats on the head were infantilizing, but the fact that she had his back was comforting. At least she wasn't a coward that was going to abandon him like a _certain_ somebody.

"Oh yeah, that's right! So today Kyoko and Shu here had a very special presentation for us- A mysterious cryptid sighting... Right here on campus! Perhaps a previously undiscovered species... or maybe something from beyond time and space!" Yasuhiro wriggled his fingers, exaggerating his voice to sound like a stoned Rod Serling.

It was hard to resist the urge to cringe, but this was _his_ club and everyone had been so nice... 

Kyoko tried not to wince while setting up her investigative photos on the walls. Everyone grew quiet as they gave her their undivided attentions until only the sound of shuffling papers and the buzz of the AC unit could be heard. Kazuichi in particular seemed especially interested as she pinned certain photos up, leaning forward in his chair and squinting his eyes. Maybe he actually _was_ interested in the occult... Who knew?

"A few days ago, Shuichi and an acquaintance of his were wandering through the arboretum when they stumbled across a mysterious scene. I was called to investigate, but what I found was nothing I had ever experienced before... A strange creature had gone on a rampage, clearing out a section of the woods and leaving behind nothing but its footprints and claw marks. Unfortunately, traditional methods of investigation have failed me so I humbly come to you today for a second opinion."

Though she omitted a few details, Kyoko went for the starkly honest method... Interesting. Something in Shuichi wished she would have made up some kooky story for the occasion, but he knew it wasn't her style. 

"Hmmm... These look far too saurian to be bigfoot..." The club president rubbed his stubbled chin, trying to look smart. "What do you think, Gundie?"

"Not a creature I'm familiar with, unfortunately... This daemon is not of this realm..." 

While the others strained themselves over some sort of identification, Kazuichi quietly got up from his seat and plucked a clear photograph of a footprint off the wall. He held a confused expression as he took a closer look, scratching the back of his head... 

"That snake..." He looked lost as he lowered the photo from his face.

"...Excuse me? What is it?" Kyoko tried to see what was setting him off.

Out of nowhere, the mechanic crumbled the photograph up into a ball and threw it across the room, scrunching his hands against his beanie in a fit of frustration. 

"ARGH! Goddammit, Miu! This was my _dream_ project and you go and take it from me?!" He agonized. "You two-timing-"

"Ah!" Shuichi stumbled out of his chair to retrieve the photograph. Both detectives were _horrified_ to see such irreverence towards their hard-earned evidence.

"Kazuichi! What the hell are ya talkin' bout?! Get a hold of yourself!" Yasuhiro had to restrain the boy on the edge of despair before he went and ruined anything else. 

"What's this about Miu? Do you recognize the print or not?" Kyoko pressed him.

After a couple of deep breaths, he quietly took a seat and pinched his brow- "This isn't some stupid bigfoot or _whatever_ , this is obviously the track print of the Idabashi Exisal."

"Eh?" Shuichi peeped- "Idabashi as in... Kiibo's 'dad'?"

"Yeah, that's the guy. The Exisal was what he turned in for his final while he attended Hope’s Peak. What a beaut' too..." Kazuichi pined. 

Shuichi uncrumpled the photograph, recalling the havoc the hulking machine wrought- It cleared that track of wood like it was a pile of toothpicks… Professor Idabashi built whatever did... that? He thought he recalled Kiibo telling him that the professor was a fierce pacifist.

"What was the, erm... 'Exisal's' function?" Shuichi asked, trying to understand.

"Heh, well if you really wanna know, it was a mech built to enter war zones and safely retrieve stranded civilians. Of course, in order to achieve that, he equipped it with machine weaponry- Claws, guns, you know that sorta thing. Only meant for last-ditch emergency efforts, of course." 

Kazuichi was pleased with Shuichi's interest and continued rambling on about its different features and history like a giddy child- The Exisal project seemed to really leave a valuable impression on him as a child. While the info was certainly interesting, Shuichi struggled to find a connection as to how it ended up in the woods. If it were meant for safely recovering victims, why would it wreak havoc and attack Himiko?

"-And the plush cockpit was so elegantly designed that _anyone_ could pilot it, even a kid!"

"So... why would it suddenly reappear in the woods and make such a mess after nearly two decades in storage?" Shuichi carefully worded his question to avoid suspicion. "Is it... because of Miu?"

Kazuichi slammed his fist against the table- "Of course it is! That backstabbing-!" 

He took a deep breath once again to calm himself.

"Sigh... Okay, so despite how _technically_ amazing the Exisal was, it had one fatal flaw- At the time it was built, there wasn't a battery powerful enough to power the damn thing. During its demonstrations, it was tethered to a giant cord the entire time. Well, ever since I was a kid I'd been thinking about possible solutions and now we have the tech to actually achieve it. So when I got accepted into Hope's Peak, I'd heard about Miu and I thought it was cool that there was a chick on campus who was also into machining n' stuff. I thought, you know, maybe _she'd_ wanna work on it with me. You know, like a group project or somethin'... What?"

The bashful look on his blushing face said it all. The secondhand embarrassment shared by everyone in the club was enough for a lifetime.

"UGH! It's nothing like that! A-anyways… I asked her to see if the Academy'd loan us the Exisal and she told me the administration told her the Exisal was no longer on campus. At the time I thought they'd given it back to the Professor or maybe even handed it to the government, but APPARENTLY she _lied_ to me and been workin' on it behind my back this entire time!"

"Right..." Kyoko was skeptical, and by the looks on everyone else's faces, so were the others.

"Come on guys... You gotta believe me..." Kazuichi looked absolutely pathetic, almost pitiable. 

"And why, pray tell, should we do such a thing? Are you not simply bitter from rejection?" Korekiyo grilled him, placing the tea cozy he had just finished kniting under the teapot. This was the start of a heated debate amongst the club regulars. As they began to duke it out, Kyoko tapped Shuichi on the shoulder- 

"Hey Shuichi, can I talk to you in private?" She whispered. Before he could give a proper answer, she got up and walked out the door. Looked like he didn't have a choice.

...

"Excuse me. I'll be back." He muttered as he got up, though no one paid attention amidst the chaos. 

Shuichi felt nervous, though he wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it was how strange this 'Exisal' story was. Throughout his explanation, he couldn't help but feel weird. Like... he was back at the clearing again. As Kazuichi explained its functions, Shuichi felt like he could see the scene before him, imagining as the giant mech tore through it all. It was unnerving... 

Outside the club room, she stood arms crossed, leaning besides the door- impossibly cool as usual. It was hard not to be jealous. Hopefully Kyoko's steady logicism would help calm his nerves like it always did.

"So what do you think? A real lead or wild goose chase?"

It did seem crazy but...

"I... think it's worth checking out. Kazuichi seems absolutely certain that this was done by that 'Exisal' thing and I have a hard time believing he's lying. I don't think Miu's behind this, but... I just have a feeling we should talk to her." Shuichi expressed his thoughts.

"You have... a feeling." She sounded dismissive, not that he could blame her.

"...Yeah."

The way she tapped her feet impatiently, the way she furrowed her brow- He sunk into hisshoulders, watching her silently judge him. After rolling her eyes, she started to chuckle. 

"Well... I suppose it's better than nothing. To be honest, this has gone a lot better than I expected. I agree that Kazuichi does seem to know what he's talking about and I do in fact trust his identification. I would have never expected an actual expert on the subject to attend such a club, so maybe there is something to your 'feelings'. I _AM_ interested in hearing Miu's side of the story..." Kyoko admitted.

"It _is_ rather strange that the Academy would lose track of a giant robot, especially considering we have _proof_ that it’s still on campus." He pondered aloud. "Hmm..."

"Hm?"

"Oh, something just came to mind. It's... probably nothing though."

"You're questioning whether the Academy's actually involved in the disappearances, aren't you?" 

"...Yeah."

"Me too. I have for a while, honestly. It just doesn't add up."

"It seems really strange that they'd cause so much trouble for themselves by taking students. Maybe one, _maybe_ two... But after three in such quick succession, people are going to notice."

"I just can't see any motive..."

The Academy _would_ have a motive. He saw it with his own two eyes... Though how could he possibly prove it? It wasn't like he could pull up citations from his _dreams_. Could she believe him just by his word?

"Illicit... human experimentation...?" Shuichi hesitantly suggested. He felt certain of it, but...

"No... I doubt it. A scheme like that would be caught right away." She shot him down immediately. 

...

It wasn't like her to suddenly reject the idea without even hearing him out... Kyoko was the first to admit the Academy's tendency of covering up conspiracies... 

"Shall we talk to Ultimate Inventor then? We should take Kazuichi as well. She might not talk otherwise." She pushed herself from the wall and brushed herself off. 

"...Yeah. Let's go then..." Shuichi still felt uneasy. Talking to Kyoko only made him feel worse... 

"Hm? Are you alright?"

"Um... Y-yeah. Sorry, this headache is killing me."

\---

As the three entered Miu’s lab, Shuichi barely recognized the seemingly empty lab from when he first visited nearly a year ago. Gossip around campus that Miu had completely repurposed the lab for herself were true- It was a complete mess not fit for human habitation and yet... there was a strange sense of order to the place. Perhaps not one that made sense to a normal person like Shuichi, but perhaps one that made sense for a mad inventor like Miu herself. Still, with all the equipment lying around in the open it was pretty easy to see how even someone like Kokichi would have crashed into the delicate equipment by accident.

...

Pushing the thought of _him_ away, he readjusted the strap on his sling. Knowing his luck, it'd get caught on something and he'd break his other shoulder... 

"Is she even here?" Shuichi asked.

"BWAHAHAHAHA~!" Miu's telltale laugh rung throughout the lab. 

"Oh yeah. She's here." Kazuichi said before setting out on the journey towards the back. Within moments he disappeared into the mess. Kyoko shrugged casually then followed suit, grabbing Shuichi by the hand. Not expecting this, he flinched and quickly pulled himself away. 

"Hey, what are you doing?! D-don't be doing things like that!" Shuichi snapped, but she didn't seem to understand why.

"Oh. I didn't realize it'd be a problem... I figured with your arm the way it was-" She said staring at his sling, only reminding Shuichi of his failures...

"I can handle myself. I'm not a little kid, you know."

"Fair enough. If I'm going too fast, don't hesitate to stop me." Not saying anything else, she moved on ahead in front of him towards the source of the voice.

Shuichi grumbled out of frustration, hoping she didn't hear him. Kyoko was acting so _weird_ today- treating him like a helpless animal, making him feel... things. Regardless, it was best to keep close. It was dark enough in here that it was kinda creepy... 

Ducking under stray wires and partially-made inventions felt second nature at this point. Even with an incapacitated arm, this was nothing compared to what he'd been forced to endure in the past couple of days. Squeezing between tables was certainly not jumping between rooftops, but still something felt... off.

Was it the dim atmosphere? Or perhaps it was how eerily similar walking through the lab felt like making his way through the vegetation? That night he rushed through the woods... Those feelings. What he saw. It was coming back to him. He could practically smell the thick scent of dark soil mixed with ozone, slowly intermingling with the metallic stench of blood. The ever growing dread of knowing something horrible was about to happen built up in his chest...

The headache kept getting worse. 

"H-hey... H-hello...? A-are you th-there? Where are you?" 

The voice caught Shuichi off guard.

"...Kyoko, was that you?"

She stopped and turned around- "Hm? No? I haven't said anything. Are you still alright?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, of course... I think I just heard Miu or something." 

...It wasn't Miu. It almost sounded like a boy, though it was difficult to tell. He thought about where he'd recognized the voice from because he DID recognize it, but from where?

“Where is it, Miu?!”

“Eh…? I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

“That was my _DREAM_ and you took that away from me!”

“M-m-my panties are in the drawer over there… T-take them and j-j-just leave me alone!”

“I… What?! Jesus, t-that’s not what I meant!” 

"If you don't back away from her, I'm calling campus security. This is your only warning."

Shuichi was so caught up in his head, he didn't realize they'd actually reached the back. It didn’t take long before a dispute had broken out- grasping Miu aggressively by the collar, Kazuichi looked like he was gonna burst a blood vessel. 

Around them watching in horror were Chihiro and two upperclassmen Shuichi didn't recognize: An attractive, taller boy with long dark hair who wore his uniform rather sloppily and a frail-looking girl in a wheelchair, bundled up in so much clothing he could barely see her face. Behind them stood a giant monolith wired to various screens, keyboards, and weirdly enough, a medical pod? It _could_ have been a super computer, but Shuichi couldn't be sure. He was never really the technological type. 

"Miu, why would you do this to me?!" Kazuichi refused to relent, even under threat of the authorities. It was like he didn't even hear him. 

"Ah-! Kyoko, help!" Chihiro pleaded, cowering behind her chair.

Not needing another word, Kyoko rolled up her sleeves and physically separated the two. 

"What the hell?! Aren't you on MY side?!" Kazuichi whined.

She replied with a slap across the face.

"HEY, WHAT GIVES?!"

"Pull yourself together. I'm not going to forgive you if you ruin this for us because of your idiotic rivalry."

Now freed, Miu sauntered about in a smug manner, a vulgar grin painted across her face- "Well, well, well! If it ain't private dick and private CUN- ACK!"

"Shut it. What are you three doing here?" The upperclassman boy had grabbed her by the ear. Poor girl couldn't catch a break.

Kyoko shoved the whimpering mechanic behind her then stepped forward. Straightening herself out, she stood as diplomatic as possible to make up for the poor introduction. 

"I apologize for the interference, Yasuke. We have a few quick questions for Miu. Shouldn't take long." 

"...You guys aren't going to bully her, are you? Because I refuse to stand for that!" The computer-generated voice came from the direction of the wheelchair girl, apparently typed out from a TTS system. She looked completely unemotive despite her fierce tone. Perhaps she was paralyzed? 

"No, it's nothing like that, I promise." Shuichi reassured, secretly wondering how she even got in here with her wheelchair...

"Alright... Ten minutes. I've got business to attend to later." The boy said, releasing Miu from his grasp. He got up and slunk behind the giant machine where they heard heard the sound of a door creak open, flooding the room with the blinding light from outside.

...

There was a backdoor. Of course there was.

"Ah-! Wait for me, Yasuke!" Chihiro, as cute as ever, bounded off with the wheelchair girl in tow. As she was being wheeled away, she brought her fingers from her eyes to Shuichi's, giving a stern motherly glare. 

What a strange girl...

"The fuck you want?! I'm a very busy woman!" Miu puffed out her bosom. "I was in the middle explaining to my _peons_ how, I, Gorgeous Girl Genius- Miu Iruma, finally found a sufficient source of power for our project! No more limp-dick main line power line. Those chokes were worse than that one time I-" 

"Oh, you 'borrowed' the power from the Academy's security system, right?" Shuichi interrupted. By the look on her face, it looked like his suspicion was right. "Can't imagine Mr. Sakakura's too happy about that." 

So that's how Kokichi convinced her... She probably didn't even realize she was being used. For such a brilliant young inventor, she sure was dense.

"Aiiyyeee! H-how did you know that?! S-so what? It's not th-that big of a deal! You better not tell! I'll do _anything_ , please~!" Miu sputtered, getting down to her knees and groveling before him. She rubbed up against his leg, hoping to eek out some of his more hormonal tendencies...

"Well, um, if you don't want me to tell, you're going to have to answer our questions." Shuichi was trying to sound tough, but this was... uncomfortable. "Can you... let go of me?"

"Ugghh... Do you even have a dick in there or what? Whatever, fine... " The inventor got to her feet. "Hurry it up, all these interruptions today have been driving me fuckin' nuts." 

_Pi~! Pi~!_

"OH, YOU GOTTA BE SHITTIN' ME!"

It was Kyoko's phone. She only needed to glance at the caller ID for a moment before immediately taking the call.

"Yes, hello? This is her. Right. Good. Please give me a moment." Putting her phone down to her side, she handed the photos to Shuichi. "It's the forensics lab. I'm gonna have to take this, so I suppose your on your own for now. I have the utmost faith in your abilities."

And like that, she left the building. Shuichi couldn't tell if it was the nausea or his crippling self-doubt, but something about the last sentence felt insincere. In the end it didn't matter- Now the sole detective in the room, both Kazuichi and Miu were staring at him, eagerly awaiting him to actually do his job.

“Well, Sherlock?”

Shuichi wondered why everyone seemed to think it was clever to call him that...

"I... Well, Kyoko and I found something weird on campus. Kazuichi mentioned you might know something about it. Do these tracks look familiar to you?" Shuichi handed her the photos.

"Pfft... That's it?! They're just some footprint from some stupid anim-"

Miu froze.

"...Well?" Shuichi urged.

"W-well...T-these are... um... from some animal... right? Wh-why would I-I know anything about that...? G-go ask Gundham..." She kept stuttering, shrinking in stature. 

"Come on, you totally know what it is, you liar! It's totally obvious you know!" Kazuichi burst in. 

"No I don't, ya jerk-off! Quit making me look suspicious in front of the detective just because you're jealous!"

"It's the Exisal! You worked on it, didn't you?!" 

"I-I don't know what you're talking about! I told you the higher-ups said no!!"

"BULLSHIT!"

The two faced off, squabbling worse than siblings over a video game. This was getting nowhere… It looked like Kazuichi quickly took the role of bad cop, but didn’t ever allow Shuichi to step in as nice cop. Did he even know the rules of how this worked…?

"Guys... come on..." Shuichi muttered, clutching his temple. All this yelling was compounding on his headache. In fact, it was becoming more than that. Hitting him like a sack of bricks, at this point it felt more like acid being injected directly into his brain... He staggered back, bracing himself against the desk behind him. The bickering between Miu and Kazuichi began to fade into the background, becoming nothing but white noise among the dull buzz of the running machinery. 

He shuffled through his bag haphazardly, desperate for his prescribed painkillers. How many did he have today? It didn't matter... He couldn't take it anymore... Pain kept spreading through his body as he swallowed the pill, growing dizzier by the moment. 

_It takes 30 minutes for it to kick in... 30 minutes is nothing... You can make it..._

"S-sayaka...?"

"Huh?" Shuichi heard the boy's voice again. It felt distant and immediately close at the same time, bouncing around in his head with a bizarre doppler effect- every reverberation burning into the back of his neck... No amount of massaging seemed to do anything to appease it. 

"Hey, are you alright?" Kyoko’s voice dragged Shuichi back to reality. At some point she'd returned and he hadn't noticed... "Your lips are as pale as a ghost..."

"Um... Yeah. The pain is just worse than I expected." Shuichi continued to rub his forehead, broken out into a cold sweat.

"Sometimes the second day is the worse than the first. I can certainly relate." Kyoko patted him on his better shoulder. "Looks like things have... devolved."

They both looked over at Miu and Kazuichi, still at each other's throats. They accused each other for their failures in life. It was a depressing sight...

“...Look, that weeb just wanted it for some shitty-ass photos or whatever! It was an easy job and-”

“AND YOU JUST WENT ALONG WITH IT?!”

...It was pointless.

"Ugh... Tell me about it. I can't even tell what's going on anymore." Shuichi grumbled.

"Well while they're busy with each other, the lab results have come back..." Kyoko pulled out her notebook. 

A jolt of anxiety rushed through Shuichi. 

"A-and...?" 

"...It's not a match. The DNA found in the blood at the scene doesn't match the DNA on the hair piece. At least not all of it. There was a hit in one sample, but not enough to suggest that it’s hers..."

"...What? Then she's alive?"

"Perhaps... That would explain why there wasn't a body, but... where did all that blood come from then? And furthermore, where _IS_ she?"

It was good news... Or it should have been... So what was this feeling of fear creeping into every part of his body? Dread seeped into his heart...

Then, like a flash flood, it happened.

He saw it as clear as day. 

"I... I..."

"...Shuichi?"

He fell to the floor.

"Hey! Shuichi, what's wrong man?" Kazuichi rushed over. 

"God , even HE can't fuckin' stand you anymore!" Miu rushed over as well, shoving the mechanic in the shoulder. 

"Shut the fuck up, this looks really bad! He's hyperventilating!"

"Shuichi, what's going on? Do I need to get medical attention? What do you need?" Kyoko dropped everything and propped up his head.

"I... She's..."

"What?"

"...S-she's dead."

"...Excuse me?"

"Sighhhhh…. He's finally gone off the deep end... Huffin' too much embalming fluid I guess." 

"S-SHE'S D-DEAD! O-OH MY GOD! NO NO NO! G-goddammit godDAMMIT!" Shuichi burst out of her arms and flailed about frantically. 

"Calm down Shuichi, what are you _talking_ about? _Who’s_ dead?!" Kyoko backed off, not wanting to get in his way.

Instead of answering, Shuichi scrambled to his bag, tears streaming down his face. A whimpering mess, he emptied the contents of his bag to the floor looking for _it_. He had no idea why, but he needed it as if his life depended on it.

"W-where is it?! Goddammit, where is it?!" 

"Where is what?! What are you doing? Talk to me!" Kyoko yanked him away from the pile, trying to get some sense back into the boy. 

"M-my phone! I... I need to talk to Kyoko! I need to talk to her right now!" Shuichi desperately pulled himself away as if she didn’t exist and went back to his things.

"I'm right here Shuichi, please just tell me what's going on!"

Shuichi finally remembered that in his tired state, he had left his phone in his room again… He crawled into a fetal position, sobbing uncontrollably. There was nothing he could do… Why was he such a goddamn idiot? Why couldn’t he do _anything_ right? 

The throbbing sting spreading from his nape was _excruciating_ \- Death would have been preferable to this... 

"G-goddammit... I told her… I told her not to go in there... I-I could have... I should have stopped her… Why couldn't I... "

Everyone had gathered around him, arms half-extended. They had no idea what to do...

_Pi~! Pi~! Pi~!_

It was Kyoko’s phone again, this time making the three jump. 

“W-what the fuck? Seriously? I-is this some sort of ghost shit?” Miu backed away.

Kyoko hesitated… It was such an eerie coincidence that even she was shaken.

"Makoto...? I'm in the middle of something right now, what is it?" The color in her face drained completely as the audibly panicked voice on the other side stammered out- "I see... the arboretum. I'll be over right away. Please, Makoto… Yes… I… I know... Please remain as calm as possible... Everything's going to be... alright. I’ll be there as soon as possible, I promise."

As Kyoko hung up, everyone in the room somehow knew what she had just been told. Turning to Shuichi, fear and confusion swirled in her eyes as if she was looking at a monster. She wasn’t alone either- Miu and Kazuichi watched in terror, neither able to say anything in lieu of the strange sight they just witnessed. 

Finally able to catch his breath, Shuichi regained control over his body again as all the pain in his body vanished at once. His eyes cloudy with tears, he felt like a freak… It didn’t matter that the pain was gone now, everyone was staring at him... Shuichi swallowed his breath and started to sob once again. Nothing could explain what he just experienced. It had to have been impossible, but he knew exactly what happened. 

Sayaka Maizono was dead. He saw it with his own two eyes. 

With an unsteady hand, Kyoko pocketed her phone. Her lips quivering, unsure whether to speak-

"What... _ARE_ you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew... I need to stop planning these chapters with too many plot goals. Getting them all in is really slowing me down.......... Sorry. I thiiink I got everything I wanted in here though. Next chapter shouldn't take me nearly as long, though saying this is probably going to jinx me :x
> 
> please wish me luck <3<3<3 
> 
> and as always, thank you for reading this far! I sincerely appreciate it <3
> 
> Til next time, squid kids.


	11. Into the Secret Garden

"Oh Tenko..."

Himiko’s friend had been acting weird all day... Somehow, she managed to be even more clingy than before. Weirder still, dark circles pooled beneath her eyes and she was far less energetic than normal. Instead of loudly prattling about, she kept staring off into the distance… For a notorious human Energizer Bunny like Tenko, Himiko couldn’t help but wonder if something was off.

When they were all at the bathhouse together, it didn’t surprise Himiko that she wanted to speak with her in private. There was something she clearly needed to get off her chest. The way she was acting was uncomfortable, but after all this time together Himiko knew if anyone could help her feel better it was herself...

_"It's pretty isn't it? Mom and Dad gave it to me before I left! It's not really my style, but it still means a lot to me! By giving this to you, I, well… I want you to know how much you mean to me..."_

Thinking back on it, she was probably just nervous about how she would react. She’d known for quite a while that Tenko had liked her in _that_ sort of way, but kept playing ignorant for the sake of their friendship… Still, she didn’t seem like the kind of girl who’d get nervous about this sort of thing. From the way she was acting, it as almost as if she thought she was running out of time...

Himiko turned the strange heart-shaped silver pendant over in her palm, encrusted with colorful gemstones all over. It looked really expensive... She felt really bad for accepting it, but Tenko absolutely insisted she take it. It wasn't even the fact that she gave her such an expensive gift that bothered her, especially since it wasn’t the first time Tenko got her something over the top. She could even handle the weird paranoid ranting about having strange dreams before she shoved the gift in her hands. All that was fine... Now, the fact that her _PARENTS_ gave the pendant to her? That thought only made her feel even more guilty. 

"Nyehhhhh..." The magician let go an exaggerated sigh, falling back first into her big fluffy bed, pendant in hand. 

It was already well past her bedtime before she and the other girls scrambled out of the bathhouse. Worse still, she lost track of both Tenko and Sayaka in the chaos. She had to walk all the way back by herself... After all that, she couldn't be bothered to change into her pajamas.

Despite all that, she couldn't stop thinking about Tenko's gift. Like she said, it really didn’t look like her style. It didn’t really look like something her parents would have given her either... There was something strange about it she couldn't quite put her finger on at the time. Holding it above her face, it glittered against the soft glow of the bedside lamp, taunting her... 

"...Eh? What's this?" 

Something caught Himiko's eye- A seam...? 

Following her slender fingers along the subtle crease, it terminated against a loose gemstone... It quickly dawned on her what this pendant actually was. 

"A puzzle locket! Hahaha~!" Himiko laughed to herself. "I bet Tenko didn't notice!"

Of course someone as 'simple' as Tenko wouldn't have noticed such an obscure detail, but Himiko on the other hand had solved puzzles like these her whole life. Practical puzzles, as her teacher explained, was a mage's bread and butter. According to him, meditating on their quiet arcane mysteries helped a budding mage like her develop her skills. Solving as many as she possibly could was just part of her everyday life. 

...Also, they were just plain fun.

This one in particular looked really complicated... And the more complicated the puzzles were the funner they were...

It was just begging to be opened.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... But it's not really _mine_... What if I'm not supposed to see whatever's inside?" She tried talking herself out of her temptation, but even she knew that it was futile. Deep down, Himiko knew that all this hesitation was just formality. In spite of all her verbal resistance, there was absolutely no way she wasn't going open that locket. 

"Well... I suppose I could just open it for a second... Tenko _did_ give it to me..." She said, already turning the loose gemstone 90 degrees to the right...

As far as challenging puzzles were, this was tougher than Himiko expected, though nothing she hadn't seen before. Pushing the gem in loosened another piece allowed both pieces to be pushed in at the same time, then rotating the entire piece along an unseen internal track... There was a certain logical pattern that the puzzle followed that she quickly picked up upon. A few minutes of trial and error was all she needed before the locket popped into two halves. 

Himiko stared at the two parts as they weighed heavy in her tiny palms. 

"Nyeh... I guess that was it." She complained, despite solving a puzzle the average person would have easily struggled with. "Oh well, putting it back together should be fun... Eh? What's this?"

Barely visible in the dim light, a slip of paper jutted from the left half of the locket. It appeared to be haphazardly jammed inside, likely from someone who didn't quite understand how the puzzle worked. Tugging on its edge, Himiko took great care not to rip the piece of paper in half. 

After getting nice and cozy under big fluffy duvet, the magician unfurled her prize...

"Eh? It's a note from mom and dad...?"

Not her own mom and dad of course, but Tenko's. She'd met them during summer break when she was invited to visit her tiny hometown in the mountains. They certainly were... interesting. Nice for sure, though maybe a little too nice at times. They insisted that Himiko call them mom and dad too. She complied out of politeness, but it didn't make it any less weird... The fact that _they_ would get Tenko this kind of eccentric gift didn't exactly surprise her, but she had no idea how they expected her to solve it by herself. 

The ethics of reading a private note clearly not meant for her did cause Himiko to hesitate, but she'd already gotten this far... Her curiosity would have killed her if she didn't at _least_ see what kind of note was so important that it needed to be hidden away so securely.

_To you who have solved this puzzle, we hope this note reaches you well. We hope that it's our precious daughter Tenko who receives this message, but understand that this is an overly optimistic view to take..._

"Heheh~ Even they didn't think she could do it... Poor Tenko..." Himiko chuckled, but the humor was short lived. As she continued to read, she soon realized this was no love note...

_The truth is, our hands are tied. By sending this locket with Tenko to Hope's Peak Academy, we hope that this message reaches another talented student with the capabilities of solving this puzzle and receiving this message. We are under a gag order not to speak of these matters, but neither my husband or I can bear this burden of this truth._

_To you who have solved this puzzle, we issue this warning-_

"...H-huh? W-what the heck? D-danger? Tenko is in danger...? W-what is this?"" Himiko muttered without thinking as she continued to read the note to herself. Within it contained unsettling information, insight she was not mentally or emotionally prepared to gain... 

_-We understand this information may be a lot to bear and there may not be a lot you alone can do about this... but we ask that you at least try to protect our dear Tenko. If you have this locket, she must trust you a fair deal._

_One more thing- It is imperative that you destroy this note as soon as you finish reading this. Should the foundation discover that you know this information, they may try to take you as well._

_Good luck and we're so sorry._

Towards the end of the letter, Himiko struggled to read the words through her own shaky hands. 

"T-they'll try to take me too...?" 

_knock knock knock_

"AHH!" Himiko scrambled out of bed in a panic. "I-I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, I PROMISE!"

"Himiko? Are you okay?" The muffled voice seeped through the door. 

The startled magician took a deep breath, unclenching her death grip on her bedsheets. She recognized the voice immediately- 

"O-Oh hey Sakaya... Give me a sec-!" She said, stumbling to replace the note and resealing it within the locket. Hobbling over to the door, Himiko hoped she didn't sound _too_ weird, though after reading that note she had no idea what to even do anymore... 

_I should have ripped the note up... You dummy, why did you just put it back in there? What if they find out I have this thing?!_

At this point it was too late to do anything but to open the door... There, the world-famous idol stood with a slightly concerned look on her face. 

"H-hey S-sayaka..." Himiko stuttered, locket clenched in a fist behind her back in a far too suspicious manner.

"Um... Hey Himiko... You... alright? I heard you screaming in there..." She asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Hahaha... Yeah, o-of course..." Himiko feigned laughter.

"Well alright then... I just wanted to check in because I lost track of you and Tenko back at the bathhouse. I'm glad you guys got back safely... I can't believe the nerve of those guys..."

"Nyeh...? Tenko wasn't with you?" Himiko said, clinging to her door frame.

"Err... No? I thought she would have stuck with you..." Sayaka tried looking over the short girl into her bedroom as if she was secretly hiding Tenko in there. "Weird..."

Unsettling thoughts flooded her mind. She couldn't help but think about what she had just read in the letter- Attempted abductions, experimentations... What if _they_ somehow knew she read that note and took Tenko as punishment?! T-they couldn't have that sort of power... right? There was simply no way... right...?

"Well, sorry for startling you... I know you need your beauty rest. I'm gonna go check on Tenko, okay? I'll catch up with you tomorrow so we can work on that routine!" Sayaka waved goodbye in an overly cutesy manner and started on her way down the hall.

...

"...W-wait! Sayaka, before you go-" Himiko called out-

"Hm?"

"I-erm... Well... You see..."

"...Yes?"

"I-i-if you're gonna see Tenko, c-can you give this back to her? I-I think she dropped it back at the bathhouse..." Himiko practically forced the locket into Sayaka's hands. "I-I'd give it back to her myself, but... if you're going now then..."

"Oh yeah, of course! No problem!"

As she pocketed the accursed object and head down the halls, Himiko immediately felt a weight lift from her chest. She was off the hook... probably. Hopefully.

Still... 

She looked down both ends the dim hallway of the third-floor dorms, examining where any possible cameras could have been hiding... If that note was telling the truth...

_Maybe they were wrong. Yeah. There's no way something like that could actually be happening..._

With no excuse to not change into her pajamas at this point, Himiko got ready for bed properly this time.

"Tenko's fine... Sayaka's probably handed her the locket and everything already." She kept saying to herself as she slowly drifted off. "She's gonna be here tomorrow morning like usual and... *YAWN* we're gonna walk to class... together... and..."  
………  
……  
...

\---

Tenko never showed up.

Not to her door in the morning, as she always did. Neither to homeroom, which she always attended.

Himiko felt like she was gonna barf.

After wandering around on campus the entire morning searching for Tenko in her usual hangout spots, it felt like her tracking magic simply wasn't working… Even Sayaka and Angie were stumped. Whatever happened last night after the bathhouse, Tenko simply never returned to the dorms. Defeated and tired, she retired to a lonely bench away from the main building… She really didn’t want to be bothered right now, especially from...

"Heeeeeeeeeey Himiko. What's up?"

The voice went through one ear and out the other. This was _really_ not the time.

Staring into the concrete, Himiko really hoped he’d just go away if she ignored him... 

"HEY HIMIKO! I ASKED WHAT'S UP?!" He tried again, only ten times as loud.

"AHHH! STOP YELLING AT ME, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!" Himiko clasped her eyes and ears shut.

"Geez... You're acting all weird... I don't usually see you sitting out here in the courtyard all by yourself, like, ever." Kokichi, ever trying to push Himiko's buttons, leaned far too close for comfort. "It's a beautiful sunny day out today, and here you are all by your lonesome. How depressing... No wonder you're acting all spaced out."

"N-no one asked you, Kokichi. Leave me alone..." Himiko scooted over on the bench she sat away from the boy.

"Hey, where's Tenko huh? Doesn't she always hover around you like a vulture?" He said, inviting himself next to her on the bench. "She didn't show up to homeroom this morning... Did you finally get fed up and got rid of her or something? How'd you do it? Lemme guess... Pushed her off a bridge?"

"NO! I-I'd never hurt her... H-how dare you say such a cruel thing..." She said, though now that he planted the thought in her head, she couldn't help but wonder if she accidentally...

The way he stared at her with those intense violet eyes... It was like he could stare directly into her soul and view all her sins... 

"Wow, the way you say that makes you look totally guilty. Anyways, I only kid. You'd throw your back out before you even lay a single finger on that girl." He said he was kidding, but his face was dead serious.

_Oh my gosh, what if Tenko's actually dead...?_

"I think she got lost in those woods last night during the bathhouse scuffle. Wouldn't be surprised if a dullard like her she was still trying to find her way out." He continued, this time with a smile.

"Wait, you knew about that?!" Himiko jolted out of her daze.

Kokichi started to laugh from the depths of his belly.

"Who'd you think arranged the whole thing?! You honestly think _Ibuki_ could have really been coordinated enough to put that thing together? Great show by the way, but I think you still got a few years to go in the, well..." Kokichi rubbed his chest in tight circles to illustrate his point.

"EW! You're gross! It's bad enough that you're a big bully, now you gotta be a big pervert too?!" Himiko shouted.

She tried to slap him across the face, barely missing. Deftly dodging her palm, Kokichi got up with his hands behind his head and continued to laugh at the poor girl. There was no point trying to deal with him... Himiko puffed out her cheeks in defiance and made a point of turning her back to him. 

"Whatever, I'm gonna go find Tenko..." She said as she started walking off.

"If you do find her, tell her I said hi." Kokichi sounded quieter than normal. "Good luck."

...

What was _that_ supposed to mean? Why did he sound so weird? 

When Himiko turned around, he was already gone without a trace. 

"...What a weirdo... Wasting all my mp..."

\---

"Nyehhhhhh... It's hopeless... Not even Shuichi and Kyoko knew what to do..." 

The crushing feeling of guilt welled up inside Himiko, building pressure on her throat. Deep down, she just wanted to cry but the tears wouldn't come. It was far too exhausting...

"Kokichi, that liar... Probably sent me here to waste even more of my magic..." Himiko slumped her shoulders.

"Yeah, probably. That kid's a real creep isn't he? The boy won’t get off my back as of late." The voice snuck up right behind her, giving her the thirtieth heart attack in the past 24 hours. 

"AHH! O-oh... It's just you... um..." She looked the girl up and down. She was definitely familiar, though they didn't attend the same classes... 

"Junko Enoshima's the name. Same class as your buddy Sayaka. I'm surprised you didn't recognize my gorgeous mug immediately, though I figure someone like you always has your little head up the clouds." She spoke with such bravado, towering over Himiko with sheer charisma alone. 

Himiko had seen the girl around campus from time to time, though she was never particularly close. She was just too weird... Like she somehow simultaneously emitted an air of magnetism drawing people to her while always keeping everyone at an emotional arms length. Such was the life of a Gyaru model, she supposed.

"Sorry, I guess you just kinda look different from how you usually look..." She said somewhat embarrassed.

Junko simply smiled and waved casually towards the wind. 

"Oh, well you know. I guess _I've_ just been SHIT at applying makeup recently. JUST A GODDAMN FAILURE AT LOOKING EVEN REMOTELY LIKE I ACTUALLY DO." She laughed it off with the most canned laughter Himiko had ever heard in her entire life. Was this was her que to laugh or...

"Anyways, what are _you_ doing in the arboretum anyways? Haven't you heard it's dangerous here?" Junko snapped into a serious scowl.

"Eh?! It is?!" 

She'd never heard _that_ before. Hope's Peak Academy was supposed to have top notch security everywhere on campus keeping the kids safe. Or at least that's what she was always told...

"Yeah, cute kids like yourself disappear and shit. There's been at least three kids who've been snatched out of these woods in the past couple years, haven’t you heard?! A little baby-sized munchkin like you shouldn't be walkin' around by yourself!"

"Hey! I'm not baby-sized- AHH!" Before she could finish speaking, Junko wrapped her arm around her shoulders. 

"Good thing you got big ol' protective Junko with ya, right? Hey... Why the long face, hm?"

If students have been disappearing out of these woods and Tenko was last seen here last night then... Was she really taken too? Between what Junko said and what the note implied, it would only make sense... 

"If you're worried about Tenko like I know you are, I wouldn't be." Junko said in a motherly fashion, as if she could read her mind. She pulled Himiko in for a warm embrace. For all her erratic behavior, even she couldn't deny her hug felt comforting. 

"She's not here anymore, but that doesn't mean she's in any pain..."

"What... do you mean? You know where Tenko went? Where is she?"

"What I mean is I saved her from this hell. I liberated her and I can liberate you too."

_...Liberate?_

"...Eh?"

Junko quietly let go of her embrace of Himiko. Her hands still grasping the tiny magician’s shoulders, Junko made ironclad eye contact, entraping her in her gaze.

"I can see it in your face. You found out what you and I really are, haven't you?" 

Himiko began to sweat. Who _was_ this person?

“N-no… I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…” She lied poorly.

"Those dumbass princes still haven't figured it out and these parasites will constantly come after us for as long as we live... BUT! I can free us from that life. I just need a teensy bit of your help..." Junko started to ramble on, sounding like a crazed conspiracy theorist. Nothing she said made any sense at all, but she didn’t look like she was going to take no for an answer.

"I... I..."

The pressure was becoming too much to bear. Himiko never wanted this. She should have never read that note. She should have never opened that locket. She should have never gone to the bath house. In fact, she should have never accepted the invitation to Hope's Peak Academy in the first place.

This whole ordeal was dizzying...

"AH, FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!" 

She felt Junko suddenly let go of her shoulders. It took her a moment to realize the girl was reeling from an apparent wound to her side. Scanning the immediate area around her in a panic, she couldn't find a culprit. Himiko's eyes grew wide and her breath unsteady- "J-Junko-!"

The instant she tried bolting towards her injured classmate, Himiko felt herself yanked back by an unseen figure. With a hand clasped over her mouth and an arm around her neck, she couldn't do anything but struggle powerlessly and utter out muffled screams- Her frail body was useless against her assailant as they began dragging her towards the brush... 

_Wait... Why don't I just use my escape magic?_

That's right! She had done this routine countless times before! All she had to do was take a deep breath and simply slip through the person's arms in one swift motion. No problem! Completely relaxing her body, Himiko, great escape artist like she was, mentally prepared herself for her next great act-

"Oh no you DIDN'T!" 

As she looked up, she saw a pink blur moving at breakneck speed directly at her- Junko, grasping at her bloodied side, had broken into a tackling charge. Not given even a moment to brace herself, she found herself flung deep into the rhododendron like a struck bowling pin. 

"Owie..." Himiko whined, rubbing her sore butt. She found herself not in the greatest condition, but free. Quickly getting up and out was the goal, but it was hard to see what was going on amidst the bushes. With some crazy psycho on the loose, she needed to consider her next move as carefully as possible. Luckily for her, it looked as if her assailant was currently busy in an altercation Junko- It shouldn't be too difficult to get back to the main building from here in theory, but getting back on the open path wasn't an option... What if there was another attacker?

"If I just run in a straight line, I'll get out of here eventually! Then I'll just get security... Yeah... That's right..." She strategized aloud. This was just all too crazy for poor sleep-deprived Himiko... Couldn't even sleep well thanks to those god awful nightmares and now this all this...

Making certain that neither Junko nor the masked man had spotted her, Himiko quietly slipped away. For once, she felt glad that her tiny size had an actual practical purpose. With a single goal in mind, she ran. And ran. And ran. As straight a path she could, she kept running. She wasn't going to allow herself to become a victim of those people...

_Parasites... That's what she called them. But how did she find out..?_

After what felt like an eternity, Himiko had reached the edge of the forest grounds as she wanted. Junko though... Her strange statements kept playing back in her mind. She clearly knew what she knew and was in as much of a target as herself. Plus, she seemed knew where Tenko was and just saved her life! She couldn't just leave her behind... 

Himiko knew what she had to do, but she was scared.

"NNNGHHH! If I don't, Tenko would never forgive me!" 

For her alone, despite how terrified she was, despite how crazy this whole thing was, despite how _stupid_ the idea was, Himiko bolted back into the woods.

Retracing her steps, she managed to work her way towards through the thicket using her innate talents. It was a cinch to get back to where she was nabbed, though coming back here felt different... Did the air always smell like a bicycle shop mixed with chopped liver...?

As Himiko reapproached the scene, it quickly became apparent that things had escalated fast... 

"What the..."

Her eyes widened and pulse quickened.

In the time she had fled and returned, the thick woods she had landed in was completely leveled. Claw marks of some infernal beast marred the trees around her, leaving nothing but its monstrous footprints. And there in the center of it all, a somewhat disheveled Junko Enoshima stood over her prey, licking his blood off her fingers like a proud cat. The man who had threatened her life not minutes before now laid partially crushed and eviscerated, completely devoid of life. Splatters of his blood lined the edges of clearing, practically defining the borders like some vulgar magic circle.

Junko lifted her gaze to meet hers.

"Oh hey, where've _you_ been, girl?" She said. There wasn't a single hesitation in her voice. 

"W-what the heck happened?! How did you-?" The questions flowed freely from Himiko's mouth, but as the demon began walking towards her, she knew the answers weren't worth sticking around for. She turned on a hairpin hoping to flee once again, but she was immediately stopped in her tracks.

She’d been spotted.

Towering several meters over her, the metal-forged monster had no eyes or face to speak of, yet Himiko felt its glare burn into her. Its tail whipped about wildly as it generated a horrid inorganic screech. It was a machine of war- a massive gun took its place as the thing's right arm and its left was built like that of a giant ape's. With viscera hanging from its claws that appeared to have been recently sharpened, Himiko imagined in vivid detail her assailant being squeezed in its grips until...

Himiko keeled over. 

"Oh my god, I'm gonna barf..." She grasped her mouth shut. It was too late for her bladder, but at the very least she managed to keep the contents of her stomach in place... 

"Aw, poor Himiko... I didn't mean to make you so upset. The guy was lame as fuck anyways... Gaaaaawd, I save your life and this is how you thank me? How about a smile, huh? Or a thank you?" Junko kneeled down and wiped a tear away from her face. 

"I mean, yeah, but y-you didn't have to kill him!"

Junko simply looked at her disappointingly.

"Well, I'm officially bored. Can we just wrap this up and go?" She turned her back to Himiko and spun her finger in a circle in the air.

"...Huh?"

In that instant, Himiko felt weightless. The bloody grip of the of the claw grew increasingly tight and all encompassing, snatching her up high into the air. No amount of magic was getting her out of this...

The machine moved fast, though where it was going she couldn't tell- She was far too occupied with trying to breathe as the blood rushed to her head with every sharp turn. Himiko gasped for whatever air she could get, but with every breath her nostrils filled with the wretched stench of the man's spilt guts. Her vision fading in and out fast, she could no longer think straight.

Before long, her body simply gave up.

\---

.........

......

...

Warmth. That familiar feeling of... of...

...

...Of what exactly?

Why did this feel so... familiar?

"Nhhhhghh..."

Starting with the tips of her fingers and toes working inward, Himiko could feel warmth slowly spread to her entire body. The revitalizing light gently washed over her like a mother's gentle touch on a warm summer's day. The comfort surrounding her was like nothing she'd ever experienced, both relaxing and invigorating at the same time. 

It urged her to wake up.

Himiko slowly opened her eyes. She found herself in a space roughly the size of one of her saw boxes lined with a material that felt as fluffy as a cloud, emitting a white glow that was bright but not blinding. It appeared she was encapsulated in what looked like a medical pod, though this looked far too futuristic to actually exist in real life...

"Where... am I?" 

As she wiped the crud from her eyes, she noticed she was no longer wearing any of her own clothes. In its place was a simple white smock like something you would wear on a hospital visit. That's when she realized-

"Eh?! Where did my hair clip go?!" Himiko said, patting her head as if it somehow could have traveled elsewhere along her scalp. Upset and not thinking, she shot up in the capsule, slamming her forehead against the solid dome above her. 

"OW! What the heck?! Stupid..." She whined a little before collecting herself. "Is there a way out of this stupid-"

Simply touching the surface with her fingertips caused the dome to fold upwards.

"Oh... That was way easier than I thought..."

Himiko took her sweet time to get up and out of the pod at her own pace. For some reason, she felt no need to rush. She was safe here, she was certain of it... 

Outside the glowing pure white pod was a glowing pure white room, roughly the size of her dorm room, though otherwise completely nondescript. After taking a good look around and finding no doors or windows or literally any other way out, Himiko folded her arms in frustration and began to shout at the walls. 

"Okay, am I dead or something? Hello? God? Are you there?" 

No response.

"Is this about that note? I know I shouldn't have read it, but don't you think this is a bit... extreme? If you want my blood or whatever can't you just take it and send me home? I won't even tell anyone what happened."

Still no response.

"Nyeh..." Himiko plopped herself onto the floor, lying completely splayed out. Staring at the ceiling blankly, she was completely out of ideas.

"I didn't choose to be this way, you know? I never wanted to be a part of the Oreo project or whatever they called it... I just wanted to be a mage... I just wanted to be friends with Tenko..."

_ding~!_

The sound, as suddenly as it appeared, wasn't startling at all. Rather, it felt like it was replying to her.

"Eh?"

Sitting back up, she was immediately drawn to a pulsing red light that had appeared upon the wall. In a room filled with nothing, it was too tempting not to investigate. 

Looking around to see if there were any hidden cameras observing her, Himiko worked up the courage to reach out and touch it. As she did, the light immediately vanished, soon to be replaced by a translucency that spread along the wall like a ripple in a pond until the the entire face was as clear as glass.

Himiko gasped.

Beyond the pane, the floor dropped several hundred meters down into a giant courtyard spanning an area far greater than that of even the campus. Crowned with a clear dome, it was a true garden of paradise landscaped with beautiful tropical plants of the likes she’d never seen before. There were animals too- Birds mostly, but she could have sworn she saw a deer as well. The room she stood in appeared to be built into a giant wall that wrapped around to the other side, bordering the entire facility.

As she found herself completely entranced by the view, Himiko heard an unfamiliar voice appear from behind her-

“Welcome home, Himiko Yumeno. You needn’t worry any longer. You’re safe now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >"Since I had this chapter completely planned out since chapter 1, this should take me zero time to finish!! I'm finally gonna get back on publishing track with this one!!"
> 
> >takes literally the longest period of time to write the chapter since starting this fic
> 
> Guys, I literally don't know what's been wrong with me recently. I'm so sorry. I keep running into this weird phenomenon where I would struggle to write even 100 words a day for like two weeks, get insanely frustrated with what I've written, delete it all, then suddenly write like 5k in two days. Does this happen with anyone else? 
> 
> Anyways, it feels really good to finally pick up some pieces I had planted from chapter 1 and just write this chapter in general! I've also learned some stuff about what kind of conditions I work best in, so I hope to become a bit more efficient in my writing. That said, I am very overdue on writing a _very special_ one shot trade for my sister. As soon as I'm done with that, I'll start work on chapter 12. 
> 
> Thank you for bearing with my infrequency. I promise I'm not doing this on purpose!


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